L 


CLIFTON  R.  WOOLDRIDGE. 


Twenty  Years  a  DetectiYe 

IN  THE  WICKEDEST  CITY  IN  THE  WORLD. 

20,000  ARRESTS  MADE 

12,900  CONVICTIONS  ON  STATE  AND  CITY  LAWS 

200  PENITENTIARY  COVICTIONS 

The  Devil  and  the  Grafter 


HOW  THEY  WORK  TOGETHER  TO  DECEIVE, 
SWINDLE  AND    DESTROY  MANKIND 

AN  ARMY  OF  600,000  CRIMINAL  AT  WAR  WITH 
SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION 

By  CLIFTON  R.  WOOLDRIDGE 

The  World-Famous  Criminologist  and  Detective 

"the  Incorruptible  Sherlock  holmes  of  America" 


After  twenty  years  of  heroic  warfare  and  scores  of  hairbreadth 
escapes,  in  his  unceasing  battle  with  the  devil  and  the  grafter, 
Mr.  Wooldridge  tells jn  a  graphic  manner  how  Wildcat  Insurance, 
Fake  Mines  and  Oil  Wells,  Turf  Swindlers,  Home  Buying  Swin- 
dlers, Fake  Bond  and  Investment  Companies,  Bucket  Shops,  Blind 
Pools  in  Grain  and  Stocks,  Pool  Rooms  and  Hand  Books,  Fake 
Mail  Order  Houses,  ordinary  Gambling  Houses,  Panel  Houses, 
Matrimonial  Bureaus,  Fake  Underwriting,  Fake  Banks.  Collecting 
Agencies,  Fake  Medicine  Companies,  Clairvoyants,  Fortune  Tellers, 
Palmists  and  other  criminals  of  all  classes  operate,  and  how  their 
organizations  have  been  broken  up  and  destroyed  by  hundredst 

THE  WORK    ALSO  CONTAINS 

Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge's  "Never=Fair'  System 

For  Detecting  and  Outwitting  All  Classes  of 
Grafters  and  Swindlers 


Copyright,  1908, 

BY 

CLIFTON  E.  WOOLDRIDGE, 


Chicago  Publisliing  Co., 

83-91  Plymouth  Phu-e,' 

Chicafj^o. 


PREFACE. 


In  presenting  this  work  to  the  public  the  author  has  no 
apologies  to  make  nor  favors  to  ask.  It  is  a  simple  history  of 
his  connection  with  the  Police  Department  of  Chicago,  com- 
piled from  his  own  memoranda,  the  newspapers,  and  the  official 
records.  The  matter  herein  contained  differs  from  those  records 
only  in  details,  as  many  facts  are  given  in  the  book  which  have 
never  been  made  public.  The  author  has  no  disposition  to 
malign  any  one,  and  names  are  used  only  in  cases  in  which  the 
facts  are  supported  by  the  archives  of  the  Police  Department 
and  of  the  criminal  court.  In  the  conscientious  discharge  of 
his  duties  as  an  officer  of  the  law,  the  author  has  in  all  cases 
studied  the  mode  of  legal  procedure.  His  aim  has  been  solely 
to  protect  society  and  the  taxpayer,  and  to  punish  the  guilty. 
The  evidences  of  his  sincerity  accompany  the  book  in  the  form 
of  letters  from  the  highest  officers  in  the  city  government,  from 
the  mayor  down  to  the  precinct  captain,  and  furnish  over- 
whelming testimony  as  to  his  endeavors  to  serve  the  public  faith- 
fully and  honestly.  'No  effort  has  been  made  to  bestow  self- 
praise,  and  where  this  occurs,  it  is  only  a  reproduction,  per- 
haps in  different  language,  of  the  comments  indulged  in  by 
the  newspapers  of  Chicago  and  other  cities,  whose  reporters 
are  among  the  brightest  and  most  talented  young  men  in  all 
the  walks  and  professions  of  life.  To  them  the  officer  acknowl- 
edges his  obligations  in  many  instances.  Often  he  has  worked 
hand-in-hand  with  them.  They  have  traveled  with  him  in  the 
dead  hours  of  the  night,  in  his  efforts  to  suppress  crime  or 
track  a  criminal,  and  have  often  given  him  assistance  in  the 
way  of  suggestions. 

He  now  submits  his  work  and  his  record  to  the  public,  hop- 
ing it  will  give  him  a  kindly  reception. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Preface 7-8 

Testimonials n 

Biography  of  the  Author    27 

Graft  Nation's  Worst   Foe    51 

The  "Never-Fail"  System  to  Beat  the  Get-Rich-Quick  Swindles   ...  112 

The    Best    Rules    for    Health     116 

Matrimonial   Agents   Coining  Cupid's   Wiles    119 

Our  Penal  System  is  a  Relic  of  Early  Savagery    192 

Vagrants,  Who  and   Why    204 

The  Young  Criminals  and  How  They  Are  Bred  in  Chicago    230 

Wails  of  Fortune  Tellers    24(> 

Wife  or  Gallows    267 

A  Clever  Shop  Lifter    (Fainting  Berthal    272 

Front    9.84: 

The  Criminal's  Last  Chance  Gone    288 

Burglary   a    Science 311 

Cell  Terms  for  "Con"  Men    341 

Panel-House  Thieves   348 

Gambling  and  Crime    358 

A  Heartless  Fraud 401 


PUBLISHER'S  PREFACE. 


The  two  arch  enemies  of  happiness  and  prosperity  are  the 
Devil  and  the  Grafter.  The  church  is  fighting  the  Devil,  the 
law  is  fighting  the  Grafter.  The  great  mass  of  human  beings, 
as  the}^  journey  along  the  pathway  of  life,  know  not  the  dan- 
gers that  lie  in  wait  from  these  two  sources.  Honest  them- 
selves, credulous  and  innocent,  they  trust  their  fellow  man. 

Statistics  show  that  four-fifths  of  all  young  men  and  women, 
and  nine-tenths  of  the  widows  are  swindled  out  of  the  money  and 
property  that  comes  to  them  by  inheritance.  Every  j-ear  thou- 
sands of  laboring  men  spend  their  hard  earnings  and  beggar 
their  families  by  falling  in  traps  laid  for  them.  Thousands  of 
innocent  girls  and  women,  struggling  for  a  respectable  liveli- 
hood, fall  victims  to  the  demons  who  traffic  in  human  honor. 

The  Grafters  spend  millions  upon  millions  of  dollars  annual- 
ly in  advertising  in  America  alone.  There  is  not  a  Post  Office 
in  the  land  where  every  mail  does  not  carry  their  appeals  and 
thieving  schemes;  and  they  collect  hundreds  of  millions  of  dol- 
lars annually  from  the  trusting  public.  The  State  and  National 
Governments  spend  millions  of  dollars  a  year  in  trying  to  catch 
and  curb  these  grafters.  Some  of  Satan's  worst  grafters  are 
found  in  the  church,  working  tlie  Ijrethren  ;  and  lie  has  them 
by  thousands  in  every  walk  of  life. 

The  object  of  this  book  is  to  protect  the  public  by  joining 
hands  with  the  church  and  the  government  in  their  work  against 
the  Devil  and  the  Grafter.  The  author  reveals  and  exposes  the 
Grafter  with  his  schemes,  his  traps,  his  pitfalls  and  his  victims. 
The  reader  of  this  book  will  be  fortified  and  armed  with  knowl- 
edge, facts  and  law.  Ihnt  sliould  forever  protect  him,  his 
family  and  his  friends  fi'om  tlie  wiles  of  the  Grafters. 

It  is  with  tlic  conlideiK-e  tliat  tliis  work  fills  an  iini)erative 
need,  and  tliat  it  sliould  l)e  in  the  hands  of  everv  iuiiii<iei-.  every 
physician,  every  teacher  and  every  mother  and  father  in  the 
land,  that  the  author  and  publisher  seiul  it  forth  on  what  they 
believe  to  be  a  mission  of  good  to  the  world. 


WORDS  OF  COMMENDATION. 


From  Chas.  S.  Deneen,  Governor  of  Illinois: 

"It  is  with  pleasure  that  I  am  able  to  say  that  Detective 
Wooldridge  has  conducted  all  his  cases  with  zeal  and  intelligence." 

J.  M.  Longenecker,  former  State's  Attorney,  says: 

"Mr.  Wooldridge  has  thorough  knowledge  of  evidence  and  is 
.",n  expert  in  preparing  a  criminal  case  for  trial.  I  have  found  him 
to  be  one  of  the  most  efficient  officers  in  the  Department." 

R.  W.  McClaughrey,  Warden  of  U.  S.  Prison  at  Leavenworth, 
Kans.,  Ex-Warden  of  Illinois  State  Penitentiary  and  Ex-Chief 
of  Police  of  Chicago,  says  in  a  letter  to  the  author: 

"You  were  not  only  subject  to  bribes,  but  also  frequently  a 
target  of  perjurers  and  scoundrels  of  every  degree.  You  came  out 
from  every  ordeal  unscathed,  and  maintained  a  character  for  in- 
tegrity and  fearlessness  in  the  discharge  of  your  duties  that  war- 
ranted the  highest  commendation.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  make 
this  statement." 

J.  J.  Badenoch,  Ex-General  Supt.  of  Police,  writing  Mr.  Wooldridge, 
says: 

"Dear  Sir — Before  I  retire  from  the  command  of  the  Folic- 
Department,  I  desire  to  thank  you  for  your  bravery  and  loyal 
service.  The  character  of  your  work  being  such  that  bribes  are 
frequently  offered  by  the  "criminal  class,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  select  men  of  perfect  integrity  for  the  purpose,  and  I  now 
know  that  I  made  no  mistake  in  selecting  you  for  this  trying 
duty.  It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  commend  you  for  your 
bravery  and  fidelity  to  j^our  duties." 

Nicholas  Hunt,  Inspector  Commanding  Second  Division,  says: 

"I  have  known  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  for  the  last  ten  years. 
As  an  officer  he  is  par-excellent,  absolutely  without  fear  and  with 
a  detective  ability  so  strongly  developed  it  almost  appealed  to  me 
as  an  extra  sense.  If  I  wanted  to  secure  the  arrest  of  a  desperate 
man,  I  would  put  Mr.  Wooldridge  in  charge  of  the  case  in 
preference  to  any  one  I  know,  as,  with  his  bravery,  he  has 
discretion." 

Geo.  M.  Shippy,  Chief  of  Police,  of  Chicago,  writing  Mr.  Wool- 
dridge, says: 

"Your  heart  is  in  the  right  place,  and  while  I  have  always 
found  you  stern  and  persistent  in  the  pursuit  and  prosecution  of 
criminals,  you  were  very  kind  and  considerate,  and  I  can  truth- 
fully say  that  more  than  one  evil  doer  was  helped  to  reform  and 
was  given  material  assistance  by  you." 

Luke  P.  Colleran,  Chief  of  Detectives,  says: 

"His  book  is  most  worthy  and  truthful  and  commendable;  and 
I  take  pleasure  in  commending  it  to  all." 


SHERLOCK      HOLMES 
IN    REAL    LIFE. 

From      The     Chicngo     Tribunr     i.f 
Novomber    25.     1900. 

"Chicago  may  be  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  it  has 
a  Sherlock  Holmes  of  its 
own,  but  it  has;  and  be- 
fore his  actual  experiences 
in  crime-liunting.  the  I'lC- 
tional  experiences  tlirou!.:h 
which  Poe,  Dnyle,  and 
Xick  Carter  i)Ul  their 
detectives  pale  into  in 
significance.  His  name  i- 
Clifton  R.  Wooldridgc. 

"Truth  is  stranger  evtn. 
than  detective  fiction,  an  i 
in  the  number  of  In- 
adventures  of  mystcr\. 
danger  and  excitement  li 
has  all  the  detecti\i 
heroes  of  fiction  and  n:! 
ity  beaten  easily. 

"He  has  personally  ar 
rested  19,500  peoi)lc.  2tiii 
of  them  were  sent  to  the 
penitentiary;  3,000  to  the 
house  of  correction;  6,000 
paid  fines;  100  girls  under 
age  were  rescued  from 
lives  of  shame;  $100,000 
worth  of  property  was  re- 
covered; 100  panel  iiousr-> 
were  closed;  100  matri 
monial  bureaus  were 
broken   up. 

••\Von].!ri,l^,rc  \VA>  I, 


lusul  perhaps  500  bribe 
of  from  $500  to  $5 
each.  He  has  been 
der  fire  fortj'-four  tim 
He  has  been  wound 
dozens  of  limes.  He  ha? 
ompersonated  a  1  m  o  s 
every  kind  of  character 
He  has,  in  his  crime  hunt 
ing,  associated  with  mem 
bers  of  the  '400'  an* 
fraternized  with  hobo" 
II  e  has  dined  with  tin 
elite  and  smoked  ii 
opium  dens.  He  has  dom 
everything  that  one  ex 
pects  the  detective  of  fic 
tion  to  do  and  which  tli< 
real  detective  seldom  does 

"When  occasion  re 
quires  he  ceases  to  appcai 
as  Wooldridgc.  He  cai 
make  a  disguise  so  quick 
ly  and  effectively  tha 
even  an  actor  would  bt 
astonished.  Gilded  youth 
negro  gambler,  hone^ 
farmer  or  lodging  hous< 
'bum,'  it  requires  but  ; 
few  minutes  to  'make-up. 
to  run  to  earth  elusiv. 
wrong-doers." 

The  pictures  which  ap 
pear  here  are  actual 
photographs  taken  from 
life  in  the  garb  and  di.- 
guises  worn  by  the  au 
thor     in     several     famous 


SisgriiiBccl   as   a 
JEW    IN    THE    OHETTO 


"HECK    HOUSTON"— STOCX-RAZSEB   FROM    WYOMING 

In   this   garb   the   author   makes   himself   an   easy    mark    for   the   crooks 

and   grafters   of  the   Stock-Yard   district.      The   hold-up   man — 

the   card-sharp — the   taunco-steerer — the    get-rich-(|uick 

stock-broker  fall  "easy  game"   to  the  detective 

thus   disguised. 


ASSOCIATING   WITH    THE    STOCK    Ain>    BOND    OBAFTEBS 


DiBgUis.'.l    ;is    ,IT1     I-;ilKlis 

lnvfstm«-tit.   Mr.   \V( 
Th«'    trap    Is    m 
In   II    few 


im.iii   wlin  li.is  U1XI10V  ami   Is  lnokiiiji   f"V  m    k'^oil 
iDliirl.lKi'   Is  fiislly  inistaki-n   for  a   ■surkcr." 
t.      \lv   apparoiitly    walks    Into    it;    but, 
nImifoH,    tho   ifraftor   fliuls   himself 
on    tlio    way    to    prison. 


POI.XCV-SAM  JOHNSON 

This   is   a    favorite   disguise   of    tlio   author   wlien    doing    detective    duty 

among  the  lowest  and  most  disreputable  criminals,      l^nsus- 

pectingly  tiie  crooks  offer  him  all  sorts  of  dirty 

work  at  small  prices  for  assistance 

in  criminal  acts. 


Wr.   NEVER  SIiEEP 

Dotoctivos  (lisKiiis'il  :is  tiainps:  "I  nm  made  all  thlnps  to  nil 
mi-ri."  .says  St.  I'aiil.  'I'lie  Dcti-cllvc  rndst  also  make  hlmsj'lf  all  tliiiiK^ 
to  all  m»-ii.  thai  ho  may  llixl  and  tatrh  the  raaials.  To  bf  up-to-dato 
It  Is  tKTfssary  to  bo  able  to  assiinu"  as  many  dlsgiilsi's  as  thorc  arc 
«lassi-s   of  people  among   whom    criminals    hide. 


POLXCV-SAM  JOHNSON  SHOOTING   CRAPS 

An  illustration  of  the  way  the  detective  employs  himself  in  the  gam- 

Dling  dens.      It   is  often   necessary   to   play   and   lose   money   in 

these  places  that  he  may  get  at  the  facts.     Observe  that 

he  is  watching  proceedings  in  another  part  of  the 

room  while  he  is  throwing  the  dice. 


SHADOWING  ONE  OP  THE  TOUR  HUNDRED. 

Fomo   of   tlu>   most    danKfrnus    Kiaflors    in    tlio    woiM    hobnob    with    tho 
ilitf,      litre   wo   liavc   our   anllinr    in   cvenliiK   ilrcss.    passing   as 
a    man   of   society   at    a    l)an<niot    of   tlie   rich. 
Hliadowinjf    a    •  lilKli-llyer"    erook. 


.2  5 


:i    (InnKoroiis  stop.      Many  n    niiiKd   man   traces  his  downfall   to 
the  (i;iy    hf   Ixmm    In    yoiitli    tn   "hot"   a   little   "to  make 
llu'    game    intorcstinK" 


3inma  Ford  (Sisters)  Pearl  Smith 


POUR    FAMOUS    NEGRO    WOMEN    GRAFTERS 

As  confidence  workers,   highway   robbers,   and   desperate   criminals   they 

were  the   terror  of  officers  and   courts.      Togetlier   tliev  stole  and 

robbed  people  of  more  than  $200,000.00.     They  were  finally 

run  to  earth  and  put  in  prison.     Our  author  followed 

one   of   them    across    the   continent    and   back. 


THE    DESTINATION    OP    THi:    GRAFTER. 

TIio  way  of  the  tranapressor  is  hard."     "Bo  suro  voiir  sin  will  find  yovi 

out."     The  jH-nitentiary   is   full  of  hriKht  men   who  mlRht   linve 

been  eminently  succes.sful — an  honor  to  tlx-mselves  and 

a  blessing  to  mankind,  if  they  had  only  heedi-d 

the   old   adage — "Honesty   is   the   best 

poliey." 


■WOOI.DBIDGE'S    CABINET    OP   BURGBAB   T001.S. 

author  from   robbers   and   crooks   duiing   ins 
eighteen  years  of  service. 


CLIFTON    R.  WOOLDRIDGE 

AMERICA'S  FOREMOST  DETECTIVE. 


Clifton  E.  Wooldridge  was  born  February  35,  1854,  in  Frank- 
lin count)',  Kentucky.  He  received  a  common  school  education, 
and  then  started  out  in  the  world  to  shift  for  himself.  From 
1868  to  1871,  he  held  the  position  of  shipping  clerk  and  col- 
lector for  the  Washington  Foundry  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  Sev- 
ering his  connection  with  that  company,  he  went  to  Washington, 
D.  C,  and  was  attached  to  the  United  States  Signal  Bureau  from 
March  1,  1871,  to  December  5,  1872.  He  then  took  up  the  busi- 
ness of  railroading,  and  for  the  folloAving  nine  years  occupied 
positions  as  fireman,  brakeman,  switchman,  conductor  and  gen- 
eral vard  master. 


38  BIOGEAPHY 

When  the  gold  fever  broke  out  in  the  Black  Hills  in  1870, 
Mr.  Wooldridge  along  with  man}'  others  went  to  that  region  to 
better  his  fortune.  Six  months  later  he  joined  the  engineering 
corps  of  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  railroad  and  assisted  in 
locating  the  line  from  Canon  City  to  Leadville,  as  well  as 
several  of  the  branches.  The  work  was  not  only  very  difficult, 
but  very  dangerous,  and  at  times,  when  he  was  assisting  in 
locating  the  line  through  the  Royal  Gorge  in  the  Grand  Canon 
of  the  Arkansas,  he  was  suspended  from  a  rope,  which  ran  from 
the  peak  of  one  cliff  to  the  other,  witli  his  surveying  instruments 
strapped  to  his  back.  This  gorge  is  fifty  feet  wide  at  the  bottom 
and  seventy  feet  wide  at  the  top,  the  walls  of  solid  rock  rising 
three  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  river  below.  The 
work  was  slow  and  required  a  great  deal  of  skill,  but  it  was 
acomplished  successfully. 

^Ir.  Wooldridge  went  to  Denver  in  1880  and  engaged  in  con- 
tracting and  mining  tlie  following  eighteen  months.  He  then 
took  a  position  as  engineer  and  foreman  of  the  Denver  Daily 
Republican,  where  he  remained  until  ^fay  29,  1883.  The  fol- 
lowing August  he  came  to  Chicago  and  took  a  position  with  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &'  St.  Paul  railway.  In  ISSfi,  he  severed  his 
eonnetion  with  the  railroad  and  founded  the  "Switchman's 
Journal."  He  conducted  and  edited  the  paper  until  May  2Gth, 
when  he  was  burned  out,  together  with  the  firm  of  Donohuc 
&  llenneberry  at  the  corner  of  Congress  street  and  Wabash 
avenue,  as  well  as  many  other  Inisiness  houses  in  that  locality, 
entailing  a  total  loss  of  nearly  $1,000,000.  Thus  the  savings  of 
many  years  were  swept  away,  leaving  him  penniless  and  in  debt. 
He  again  turned  his  attention  to  railroading  and  secured  a  posi 
tion  with  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  railroad  and  had 
accumulated  enough  money  to  pay  the  indebtedness  which  re- 
sulted from  the  fire,  when  the  great  strike  was  inaugurated  on 
that  road  in  February,  1888.  The  strike  included  the  engineers, 
firemen   and   switchmen,   and    continued   nearly   a    year.     On 


BIOGRAPHY  29 

October  5th  of  that  year  Mr.  Woohlridge  made  application  for  a 
position  on  the  Chicago  police  force,  and  having  the  highest 
endorsements,  he  was  appointed  and  assigned  to  the  Desplaincs 
Street  Station.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  Wooldridge  as  a 
police  officer  had  no  superiors  and  few  equals.  Neither  politics, 
religion,  creed,  color,  or  nationality  obstructed  him  in  the  per- 
formance of  his  police  duties,  and  the  fact  was  demonstrated  and 
conceded  times  without  number  that  he  could  not  be  bought, 
bribed,  or  intimidated.  He  selected  for  his  motto,  "Right 
wrongs  no  man;  equal  justice  to  all."  His  superior  officers 
soon  recognized  the  fact  that  no  braver,  more  honest  or  efficient 
police  officer  ever  wore  a  star  or  carried  a  club. 

The  mass  of  records  on  file  in  the  police  headquarters  and  in 
the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  municipal  and  criminal  court  demon- 
strate conclusively  that  he  has  made  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
records  of  any  police  officer  in  the  United  States  if  not  in  the 
world.  Mr.  Wooldridge  has  seen  twenty  3^ears  of  experience 
and  training  in  active  police  work.  Ten  years  of  this  time  he 
was  located  in  what  is  commonly  known  as  the  Levee  district, 
a  territory  where  criminals  congregate  and  where  crimes  of  all 
degrees  are  committed. 

Born  in  Kentucky. 

Mr.  Wooldridge  is  therefore  of  Southern  extraction.  And  in 
spite  of  the  "big  stick"  Avhich  this  terror  of  the  grafters  has 
carried  for  twenty  years,  he  still  "speaks  softly,"  the  gentle  ac- 
cent of  the  old  South.  But  behind  that  soft  speech  there  is  a 
determined  soul.  The  smooth-running  accents  of  the  South 
are  in  this  case  the  velvet  which  hides  the  glove  of  iron. 


The  following  are  some  of  the  deeds  of  valor,  work 
and  achievements  he  has  accomplished: 

AN  UNPARALLELED   RECORD. 

20,000   arrests    made    by    Detective    Wooldridge. 

He  keeps  a  record  of  each  arrest,  time,  place  and 
disposition  of   the   case. 

14,000  arrests  made  for  violation  State  and  city  mis- 
demeanors. 

6,000   arrests   made    on    criminal   charges. 

10,500   of    these    prisoners    paid    fines. 

2,400  of  these  prisoners  were  sent  to  jail  or  the  house 
of   correction. 

200  of  these  were  convicted  and  sent  to  the  peniten- 
tiary. 

1,000  get-rich-quick  concerns  were  raided  and  broken 
up. 

60  wagon  loads  of  literature   seized  and   destroyed. 

A  conservative  estimate  of  the  sum  contributed  an- 
nually by  this  highly  civilized  nation  to  "safe  investment" 
and   "get-rich-quick"   concerns   is   $150,000,000. 

300  poker,  crap  and  gambling  games  raided  and  closed; 
$1,000,000  lost. 

200  wine  rooms  closed  up.  These  wine  rooms  were 
the  downfall  and  ruination  of  hundreds  of  innocent  girls. 

185    wild-cat    insurance    companies    raided    and    closed. 

2,500,000  bogus  securities  and  10  patrol  wagon  loads  of 
books,  papers  and  literature  seized.  These  companies  paid 
no  losses,  and  there  were,  it  is  estimated,  1,000,000  persons 
who  had  taken  out  fire  insurance  policies  in  these  wild- 
cat companies. 

They  had  sustained  fire  losses  and  were  not  indemni- 
fied. The  conservative  estimated  loss  by  these  wild-cat 
insurance  companies  is  $10,000,000. 

$200,000  of  lost  and  stolen  property  was  recovered  and 
returned  to  the  owners  by  Detective  Wooldridge. 

129  slot  machines  seized  and  broken  up:  valued  at 
$10,000. 

130  policy  shops  raided  and  closed;  $100,000  would  bo 
a  conservative  estimate  of  the  amount  lost  by  the  players. 

125  matrimonial  agencies   raided   and  broken  up. 

4,500.000   matrimonial   letters   seized   and   destroyed. 

1.500,000  matrimonial  agencies'  stock  letters  seized  and 
destroyed. 

1,400,000  matrimonial  stock  iihotographs  seized  and  de- 
stroyed. 

500,000  plidtograplis  sent  (o  th.'  matrimonial  agencies 
by  men  and  women  who  were  seeking  their  aftinities 
seized   and   destroyed. 

40  wagon  loads  of  matrimonial  liti-rature  seized  and 
destroyed. 

110  turf  frauds  raided  and  closed:  .$8,000,000  lo.t  by  tlie 
public. 

$20,000  bribe  wa<  offered  Wooldridge  by  the  turf 
swindlers    to    let    tliem    run.   but    he    refused    to    take    it 


105  panel   houses  raided  and  closed. 

$1,500,000  was  stolen  annually  from  1889  to  October, 
1896.  At  that  time  there  were  64  uniformed  officers  sta- 
tioned in  front  of  the  panel  houses.  Detectives  Wool- 
dridge  and  Schubert  were  assigned  to  break  them,  which 
was   accomplished    in    three    weeks'    time. 

100  bucketshops  raided  and  closed;  $5,000,000  lost 
through    them. 

July  31,  1900,  Detective  Wooldridge,  in  charge  of  50 
officers,  arrested  415  men  and  landed  them  in  the  Harri- 
son Street  Police  Station,  and  dismantled  the  following 
bucketshops: 

10  and  12  Pacific  avcmc.  25  Sherman  street.  14  Pacific  avenue,  10 
Pacific  avenue.  210  Onera  House  Block,  7  Exchange  court,  19  Lyric 
PAiilding,  and  .37  Dearljorn  street.  It  was  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
sensational    raids   ever   made    in   Chicago,    and    will    he    long   remembered. 

IZ  Opium  joints  raided  and  closed;  $100,000  spent,  and 
hundreds  of  persons  were  wrecked  and  ruined  by  the  use 
of  opium. 

75  girls,  under  age  rescued  from  a  house  of  ill  fame 
and  a  life  of  shame,  and  returned  to  their  parents  or 
guardians,  or  sent  to  the  Juvenile  School  or  the  House 
of    Good    Sliepherd. 

50  home-buying  swindles  raided  and  closed;  $6,000,000 
lost. 

48  palmists  and  fortune  tellers  raided  and  closed;  $500,- 
000  lost. 

45  spurious  cmplovment  agencies  raided  and  closed: 
$200,000   lost. 

40  bogus  charity  swindles  raided  and  closed;  $300,000 
lost. 

38  blind  pools  in  srain  and  stock  raided  and  closed; 
$500,000  lost. 

35  bogus  mail  order  houses  raided  and  closed;  $3,000,000 
lost. 

34  sure-thing  gambling  devices  raided  and  closed; 
$2,500,000   lost.^ 

33  fraudulent  and  guarantee  companies  raided  and 
closed;    $900,000   lost. 

30  fraudulent  book  concerns  raided  and  closed;  $1,000,000 
lost. 

28  panel-house  keepers  were  indicted  and  convicted. 

15  owners  of  the  property  were  indicted  and  convicted. 

This  broke  the  panel-house  keepers'  backbone  and  they 
never  recovered   to   resume   business   again. 

Emma  Ford,  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  April  5,  1902,  for  five 
years.  Pearl  Smith,  her  sister,  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  June  19, 
1893.  for  five  years.  Mary  White,  May  20,  189.3.  for  two  years. 
Flossie  Mooro.  March  27.  189,3.  for  five  years.  Seventy-five  thousand 
dollars   is    said   to   have   been   stolen   by   her    in   eighteen    months. 

$8,000  bribe  was  offered  Detective  Wooldridge  to  let 
Flossie    Moore    slip    through    his    fingers. 

$3,000  bribe  was  offered  by  the  same  woman  for  the 
address  of  Sadie  Jorden,  who  was  an  eye  witness  of  the 
robbery  of  E.  S.  Johnson,  a  retired  merchant,  aged  74 
years. 


28  wire  tappers  were  raided  and  closed.  These 
men  secured  the  quotations  from  the  Board  of  Trade  and 
pool  rooms,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  were 
secured  from  the  speculators  who  were  victimized;  $200,000 
lost. 

27  dishonest  collecting  agencies  raided  and  closed: 
$200,000  lost. 

25   swindling  brokers  raided  and  closed:  $800,000  lost. 

23   lotteries   raided   and   closed:   $1,700,000   lost. 

$100  per  month  bribe  to  run  his  lottery  was  offered 
Detective  Wooldridgc,  April  21,  1900,  by  J.  J.  Jacobs,  217 
Dearborn  street,  who  conducted  the  Montana  Loan  & 
Investment  Co.  He  was  arrested  and  lined  $1,500  bv 
Judge    Chetlain.    June   21,    1903. 

22  promoters  raided  and  closed:  $1,000,000  lost. 

22  salted  mines  and  well  companies  raided  and  closed: 
$2,000,000   io^t. 

20  city  lot  swindles  raided  and   closed:  $1,000,000  lost. 

20  spurious  medicine  concerns  raided  and  closed: 
$300,000  lost. 

$30,000  wortii  of  poison  and  bogus  medicines  seized 
October  29,    1904,   as   follows: 

$12,000  worth    of   spurious   medicines    seized   b}'   Detective 
Wooldridge     from     Edward     Kuehmstcd.     6323 
Ingleside   avenue. 
$5,000  worth   of  spurious  drugs  seized  from  J.   S.   Dean. 
6121    Ellis  avenue. 
$2,500  wortli   of   spurious   drugs   seized     from     Rurtis     B. 
McCann,   6113    Madison   avenue. 
$500  worth   of  spurious   drugs   seized   from  J.    X.    Levy. 
356  Dearborn  street. 
S;2.000  worth    of   spurious    medicines    seized    from    W.    G. 
Xay.   1452  Fulton  street. 

17  women  arrested  for  having  young  girls  under  age 
in   a   house   of   prostitution. 

16  fraudulent  theater  agencies  raided  and  closed: 
$100,000  lost. 

l.l  pioturists  of  young  girls  for  houses  of  ill  funic  nn<l  prostitution 
iirrosfcd   ami   fined. 

$S.O0()  bril)e  ofrpwl  Dptpollvp  Wooldridito.  SoptoinlKT  27.  ISO.".,  liy 
M.iry  Iliistinss.  who  l<('pt  »  house  of  prostitution  iit  128  ('\istom  House 
pliKc.  She  went  to  Toleiio.  ()..  and  secured  six  jfirls  under  aite  nnd 
lirou^'lit    them    in    the    liouse   of    prostitution. 

One  of  tlie  Kirls  escaped  in  her  nicht  clothes  by  tying  a  sheet  to 
the    window.       There    weri"    six    In    nundier.     as    follows: 

I.izTie  I^'hrman.  May  Casey,  Ida  Martin,  Oertie  Harris,  Kittle  Me- 
Ciirty     and     I.lzzle     Winzel. 

.\fter  Mary  Ilastinus  was  arrested  and  she  found  out  that  she  could 
not  brll>e  WooidridKC  slie  gave  bonds  and  fled.  Some  months  later  she 
was    again    nrresteil,    and    the    case    ilrauged    along    for    two    years. 

The  witnesses  were  bought  up  and  shliipiil  out  of  the  state.  The 
case  was  stricken  oIT,  with  leave  to  reinstate.  It  is  said  it  c«>«t  her 
$20.(10(1. 

I''<iur  notorious  neuro  women,  footpads  and  higliway  roblMTs,  arresli-tl 
by  Detective  Wisildriilk'e.  whose  stealini.'s  are  esthnated  by  the  |«dlce 
to  have  Ix-en  over  $2(Mi.O0(».  The  following  are  tlw  nanu-s  of  the  women 
arrested  : 

5   mushroum    banks    raided   and   closed:   $500,000  lost. 


BIOGRAPHY  33 

Detective  Wooldridge  has  been  under  fire  over  forty  times, 
and  it  is  said  that  he  bears  a  charmed  life,  and  fears  nothing. 
He  has  met  with  many  hair-breadth  escapes  in  his  efforts  to 
apprehend  criminals  who,  by  means  of  revolver  and  other  con- 
cealed weapons,  tried  to  fight  their  way  to  liberty. 

He  has  impersonated  almost  every  kind  of  character.  He 
has  in  his  crime  hunting  associated  with  members  of  the  "400'' 
and  fraternized  with  hobos.  He  has  dined  with  the  elite  and 
smoked  in  the  opium  dens ;  he  has  done  everything  that  one 
expects  a  detective  of  fiction  to  do,  and  which  the  real  detec- 
tive seldom  does. 

Wooldridge,  the  incorruptible !  That  describes  him.  The 
keenest,  shrewdest,  most  indefatigable  man  that  ever  wore  a 
detective's  star,  the  equal  of  Lecocq  and  far  the  superior  of 
the  fictitious  Sherlock  Holmes,  the  man  who  has  time  and 
again  achieved  the  seemingly  impossible  with  the  most  tremen- 
dous odds  against  him,  the  man  who  might,  had  such  been  his 
desire,  be  wealthy,  bo  a  ''foremost  citizen"  as  tainted  money 
goes,  has  earned  the  title  given  him  in  these  headlines.  And 
if  ever  any  one  man  earned  this  title  it  is  Clifton  E.  Wooldridge. 

It  is  refreshing  to  the  citizenship  of  America,  rich  and  poor 
alike,  to  contemplate  the  career  of  this  wonderful  man.  It  fills 
men  with  respect  for  the  law,  with  confidence  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  law,  to  know  that  there  are  such  men  as  Wool- 
dridge at  the  helm  of  justice. 

The  writer  of  this  article  has  enjoyed  intimate  personal  as- 
sociation with  the  great  detective,  both  in  the  capacity  of  a 
newspaper  reporter,  magazine  writer  and  anti-graft  worker. 
The  ins  and  outs  of  the  nature  of  the  greatest  secret  service 
worker  in  Chicago,  Clifton  E.  Wooldridge,  have  been  to  me 
an  open  book.  And  when  I  call  him  Wooldridge,  the  incor- 
ruptible, I  know  whereof  I  speak. 

I  have  seen  him  when  all  the  "influences"  (and  they  are  the 
same  "influences"  which  have  been  denounced  all  over  the 
country  of  late)  were  brought  to  bear  upon  him,  when  even  his 


34  BIOGKAPHY 

own  chiefs  were  inclined  to  be  friglitened,  but  no  "influence" 
from  any  source,  howsoever  high,  has  over  availed  to  swerve 
him  one  inch   from  tlio  path  of  duty. 

Cannot  Be  Bribed. 

He  has  been  offered  bribes  innumerable ;  l)ut  in  each  and 
every  instance  the  would-hr  l)riber  has  learned  a  very  unpleas- 
ant lesson.  For  iW\<  man.  who  might  be  worth  almost  any- 
thing he  wished,  is  l)y  no  means  allluent.  But  he  has  kept 
his  name  untarnished  and  his  spirit  high  through  good  fortune 
and  through  bad,  through  evil  repute  and  good. 

Wooldridge  does  not  know  the  meaning  of  a  lie.  A  lie  is 
something  so  foreign  to  his  nature  that  he  has  trouble  in  com- 
prehending how  others  can  see  profit  in  falsifying.  It  lias 
Ix'cn  his  cardinal  principle  through  life  that  liars  always  come 
to  a  l)ad  end  finally.  And  li<'  lias  seen  his  healthy  estimate  of 
life  vindicated,  bo<h  in  tlic  liigh  circles  of  frenzied  finance 
and  in  the  low  levels  of  sneak-thievery. 

TlJE-ALENDOUS    AMOUNT    OF    WoRK    DONE. 

But  tlie  most  remarkable  thing  to  me  about  Wooldridge  is 
the  work  be  has  (lone  roiisidcr  for  a  moment  the  ri'cord  which 
heads  this  aiticlc  ('i)iild  anything  shout  forth  the  tremendous 
energy  of  the  man  in  anv  plainer  terms?  There  are  men  in 
the  same  line  of  work  with  Wooldridge.  who  have  been  in  the 
service  for  the  same  Icnulh  of  time,  who  have  not  made  one 
arrest  where  he  has  made  thousands. 

Twenty  thousand  arrests  in  twentv  years  of  service,  a  thou- 
sand arrests  every  year,  on  an  average.  A  thousand  get-rich- 
f|uick  concerns,  victimizing  more  than  a  million  people,  raided 
and  put  out  of  business;  thirteen  thousand  one  hundred  con- 
victions; hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  wine  rooms,  gambling 
houses,  bucketshops.  opium  joints,  houses  of  ill  fame,  turf 
frauds,  bogus  charity  swindles,  policy  shops,  matrimonial 
agencies,    frandubnl    guarantee   companies,    sjuirious    medicine 


BIOGRAPHY  35 

concerns,  thieving  theater  agencies  and  mushroom  banks  brought 
to  the  bar  of  justice  and  made  to  expiate  their  crimes. 

That  is  the  record  of  the  almost  inconceivable  work  done  by 
Clifton  E.  Wooldridge  on  the  Chicago  police  force.  The  figures 
are  almost  appalling  in  their  greatness.  It  is  hard  for  the  mind 
to  comprehend  how  any  one  man  could  have  achieved  all  this 
vast  amount  of  labor,  even  if  he  worked  twenty-four  hours  a 
day  all  the  time.  And  yet  it  is  the  bare  record  of  the  "big" 
work  done  by  Wooldridge,  aside  from  his  routine. 

Life  History  of  Wooldridge. 

Detective  Wooldridge  from  March,  1898,  until  April  5,  1907, 
was  attached  to  the  office  of  the  General  Superintendent  of 
Police  and  worked  out  of  his  office.  During  that  time  over 
1,200  letters  and  complaints  were  referred  to  him  for  investi- 
gation and  action. 

April  5,  1907,  Detective  Wooldridge  was  relieved  of  this 
work  and  transferred,  and  crusade  and  extermination  of  the 
get-rich-quick   concerns   ceased. 

September  20,  1889,  Detective  Wooldridge  was  placed  in 
charge  of  twenty-five  picked  detectives,  who  were  placed  in 
charge  of  the  suppression  of  hand-books  and  other  gambling 
in  Chicago.  He  remained  in  charge  of  this  detail  for  three 
years. 

On  December  13,  1890,  at'  the  residence  of  Charles  Part- 
dridge,  Michigan  avenue  and  Thirty-second  street,  while  three 
desperate  burglars  were  trying  to  effect  an  entrance  into  the 
house,  Detective  Wooldridge  espied  them  and  in  his  attempt 
to  arrest  them  was  fired  upon  by  the  trio.  One  shot  passed 
through  his  cap,  clipping  off  a  lock  of  his  hair  and  grazing  his 
scalp.  The  next  shot  struck  him  squarely  in  the  buckle  of  his 
belt,  which  saved  his  life. 

Numberless  Hair-Breadth  Escapes. 

August  20,  1891,  he  met  with    another    narrow    escape    at 


36  BIOGRAPHY 

Thirtieth  and  Dearborn  streets,  while  attempting  to  arrest  Na- 
tlian  Judd,  a  crazed  and  desperate  colored  man.  Jndd  threA\ 
a  brick  at  him,  striking  him  over  his  left  temple,  and  inflicting 
a  wound  two  inches  long. 

Judd  was  shot  through  the  thigh,  and  afterwards  was  sent 
to  the  house  of  correction  for  one  year. 

Detective  Wooldridge,  alone  in  a  drenching  rainstorm  at  4 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  June  23,  1892,  at  jMichigan  avenue 
and  Madison  street,  intercepted  three  horsethleves  nnd  hold- 
up men  in  a  buggy  trying  to  make  their  escape. 

At  the  point  of  a  revolver  he  commanded  them  to  halt.  As 
they  approached  him  no  attention  was  paid  to  him,  or  to  what 
lie  was  saying.  Seizing  the  bridle  of  the  horse,  he  was  dragged 
nearly  a  block  before  the  horse  was  checked.  A  twenty-pound 
hojoc  weight  was  hurled  at  him  by  one  of  the  robbers,  which 
jast  missed  his  head.  Another  one  of  the  robbers  leaped  upon 
the  horse  and  rained  blow  after  blow  upon  his  head  Avith  the 
buggy  whip. 

Detective  Wooldridge  shot  this  man  in  the  leg;  he  jumped 
off  the  horse  and  made  good  his  escape  while  "Wooldridge  was 
ongaged  in  a  desperate  hand  to  hand  encounter  with  the  other 
two  robbers.  Wooldridge  knocked  both  senseless  with  the  butt 
of  his  revolver.  They  were  taken  to  the  police  station  and  gave 
their  names  as  John  Crosby  and  John  McGinis.  Both  were 
found  guilty  a  month  later  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  by 
Judge  Baker. 

Saves  Women  and  Childijex  in  Fire. 

March  4,  1892,  Detective  Wooldridge  by  his  prompt  and 
courageous  actions,  and  the  immediate  risk  of  his  own  life, 
succeeded  in  rescuing  from  the  Waverly  Hotel  (which  was  on 
tire),  at  202  and  204  S.  Clark  street,  two  ladies  who  were  over- 
come by  smoke  on  the  second  floor  of  the  burning  building: 
:ilso  a  lady  and  two  children,  aged  two  years  and  five  months, 
respectively,  fvnui   the  fourth   floor. 


BIOGRAPHY  37 

This  act  was  performed  b}'  tying  a  silk  handkerchief  around 
his  mouth,  and  on  his  hands  and  knees  crawling  up  the  wind- 
ing stairs  to  the  fourth  floor,  where  he  found  Mrs.  E.  C.  Dwyer 
unconscious.  Placing  the  two  children  in  a  bed  quilt,  he  threw 
it  over  his  shoulder,  and  seizing  Mrs.  E.  C.  Dwyer  by  the  hand, 
dragged  her  down  the  stairs  to  a  place  of  safety,  where  medical 
assistance  was  called. 

Sept.  21,  1902,  Detective  Wooldridge  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  Get-Rich-Quick  concerns  with  which  Chicago  was  infested. 
He  also  had  charge  of  the  suppression  of  gambling  at  parks 
and  other  places  of  amusement,  the  inspection  and  supervision 
of  picture  exhibitions  in  penny  arcades  and  museums,  and  the 
inspection  and  supervision  of  illustrated  postal  cards  sold 
throughout  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  exhibi- 
tion, sale  and  circulation  of  vulgar  and  obscene  pictures,  the 
"work  of  gathering  evidence  against  and  the  suppression  of 
dealers  in  "sure  thing"  gambling  devices,  viz.,  loaded  dice, 
marked  cards,  roulette  wheels,  spindle  faro  layouts,  card  hold- 
outs, nickel  slot  machines  and  many  other  devices. 

Oct.  25,  1893,  Detective  Wooldridge  had  a  narrow  escape 
while  trying  to  arrest  Charles  Sales,  a  desperate  colored  man. 
for  committing  a*  robbery  at  State  and  Harrison  streets.  Sales 
"whipped  out  his  gun  and  fired  four  shots  at  Wooldridge  at 
short  range ;  two  of  the  shots  passing  harmlessly  through  his 
coat.  Sales  was  arrested  and  given  one  year  in  the  house  of 
correction. 

Rides  to  Station  on  Prisoner's  Back. 

June  6,  1894,  Detective  Wooldridge  arrested  Eugene  Buchanan 
for  committing  a  highway  robbery  at  Polk  and  Clark  streets. 
A  few  days  prior  he  had  held  up  and  robbed  Philip  Schneider 
and  kicked  out  one  of  his  eyes.  Buchanan  was  met  in  the  alley 
hetween  Clark  street  and  Pacific  avenue,  where  he  resisted 
arrest  and  fought  like  a  demon,  using  his  hands,  club  and  head. 
In  the  scuffle  he  ran  his  head  between  Woldridge's  legs  and, 


:i8  BIOGRAPHY 

tried  to  throw  him,  but  Wooldridge  was  to  quick  for  him  and 
fastened  his  legs  around  Buchanan's  neck  like  a  clam.  Buchanan 
could  not  free  himself.  Wooldridge  pulled  his  gun  and  placing 
it  in  the  ear  of  Buchanan  compelled  him  to  carry  him  to  the 
Harrison  street  police  station  on  his  shoulder.  It  was  one  of 
the  most  novel  sights  ever  witnessed,  and  will  he  long  remem- 
bered by  those  who  saw  it. 

Buchanan  was  convicted  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  three 
years.  Upon  his  release  he  applied  to  Wooldridge  to  assist 
him  in  securing  a  position.  Wooldridge  took  him  to  his 
home,  fed  him  and  secured  employment  for  him  with  Nelson 
Morris  &  Co.,  where  he  remained  three  years.  He  afterwards 
committed  a  highway  robbery  in  Washington  Park  and  is  now 
serving  an  indefinite  term  in  the  penitentiary. 

Hangs  on  Window  Sill. 

May  IG,  1805,  Detective  Wooldridge,  accompanied  by  Officers 
Kern,  O'Connor  and  Cameron,  located  Matt  Kelly  at  411  State 
street,  who  was  wanted  for  a  criminal  assault.  Kelly  was  a  hold- 
up man,  ex-convict  and  a  notorious  safe-blower,  who  several 
years  prior  to  this  shot  two  officers  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  Kelly 
was  found  behind  locked  doors  on  the  second*  floor  and  refused 
to  open  the  doors.  Detective  Wooldridge  went  to  the  adjoining 
flat,  opened  a  window  and  crawled  along  the  ledge  until  he  had 
reached  Kelly's  room;  with  a  revolver  in  his  mouth  he  pushed 
up  the  sash  and  was  faced  by  Kelly  and  his  wife. 

"Go  back  or  I'll  kill  you,"  said  Kelly  as  ho  pushed  his  re- 
revolver  in  Wooldridgc's  face. 

Wooldridge  had  meanwhile  secured  a  good  hold  on  the  sill 
of  the  window,  but  was  not  in  a  position  to  defend  himself. 
The  Kelly  woman  tried  her  best  to  shove  him  off;  she  succeeded 
in  loosening  one  of  his  hands,  and  for  an  instant  Detective 
Wooldridge  thought  he  would  have  to  fall.  With  an  almost 
superhuman  effort  Wooldridge  broke  in  the  window  and  cover- 
ing Kelly  with  his  own  revolver  ordered  him  to  throw  up 


BIOGKAFHY  39 

his  hands,  which  he  did.     He  wns  taken  to  the  police  station 
and  heavily  fined. 

A  Plot  to  Kill  Detective  Wooldridge. 

A  dozen  of  the  highwaymen  and  robbers  on  whom  Wooldridge 
was  waging  a  relentless  warfare  gathered  together  on  the 
ntorning  of  July  4,  1895,  and  formed  a  plot  to  kill  Wooldridge 
and  get  him  out  of  the  way.  They  concluded  that  the  night 
of  July  4,  when  everyone  was  firing  off  revolvers  and  cele- 
brating, would  afford  the  best  opportunity.  They  imagined  it 
would  be  an  easy  thing  to  shoot  him  from  one  of  the  windows 
or  from  a  housetop  while  he  was  on  duty  patrolling  his  post, 
and  no  one  would  know  where  the  shot  came  from,  as  there 
was  shooting  from  every  direction. 

An  oath  of  secrecy  was  taken  by  all  present,  and  lots  drawn 
to  see  who  was  to  do  the  deed.  In  all  probability  their  plan 
would  have  been  carried  out  had  it  not  been  for  a  colored 
woman,  who  was  watching  them  and  heard  the  whole  plot,  and 
who  went  with  the  information  to  the  Harrison  Street  Police 
Station. 

Captain  Koch  and  Lieutenant  Laughlin  were  notified  and 
upon  investigation  found  the  report  to  be  true.  They  took  im- 
mediate steps  to  protect  Wooldridge  by  placing  three  additional 
officers  in  full  uniform  with  him,  and  also  placing  six  men 
in  citizen's  clothes  on  his  post.  Every  man  they  met  was 
searched  for  a  gun;  every  crook,  vagrant  and  thief  that  they 
could  lay  their  hands  on  was  placed  under  lock  and  key  in  the 
station,  and  by  11  o'clock  that  night  there  was  no  square  in 
the  city  quieter  than  the  one  this  officer  patrolled,  and  in  two 
weeks'  time  "Coon  Hollow"  and  the  whole  neighborhood  for 
half  a  mile  in  every  direction  had  undergone  the  most  remark- 
able change  known  to  police  history,  and  this  change  was  ap- 
parent for  a  long  time  thereafter. 

February  11,  1896,  Detective  Wooldridge,  while  trying  to  ar- 
rest a  panel-house  keeper  and  three  colored  holdup  men  at  413 


4a  BlOGKArHY 

Dearborn  street,  was  fired  upon  by  one  of  the  trio.  Kid  White, 
the  shot  striking  the  bar  of  his  watch  chain,  which  was  attached 
to  the  lower  button  of  his  vest.  When  the  bar  was  struck  the 
bullet  was  diverted  from  entering  Wooldridge's  stomach,  and  it 
glanced  off  and  passed  through  his  overcoat. 

Detective  Wooldkidge  Eoughly  Handled. 

In  1896  Wooldridge's  tiercest  fight  came  when  he  arrested 
George  Kinnucan  in  his  saloon  at  435  Clark  street.  A  dozen 
roughs,  henchmen  of  Kinnucan,  who  were  in  the  saloon  at  the 
time,  came  to  the  saloonkeeper's  rescue.  The  officer  wat; 
knocked  down,  his  billy  taken  from  him  and  himself  beaten  un- 
conscious with  it,  and  his  face  and  head  kicked  into  one  mass  of 
bruises.  Through  it  all  he  managed  to  hang  on  to  his  revolver. 
This  alone  saved  him.  He  finally  managed  to  shoot  Kinnucan 
through  the  hand  and  forearm,  and  a  moment  later  a  uniformed 
man  burst  in  and  evened  up  the  battle.  Six  of  the  toughs  were 
arrested,  and  Wooldridge  was  left  alone  by  them  for  a  long 
time. 

Fine  Work  in  a  Thieves'  Resokt. 

In  the  same  year  of  1896,  Detective  Wooldridge,  disguising 
himself  as  a  cheap  thief,  entered  a  Clark  street  criminals'  re- 
sort and  fraternized  with  thieves,  murderers  and  vagabonds 
of  all  kinds,  in  order  to  obtain  information,  leading  Wooldridge 
into  the  most  amazing  school  of  crime  ever  witnessed  by  a  Chi- 
cago police  officer.  He  was  accepted  in  good  faith  as  a  proper 
sneak  thief  by  the  brotherhood,  and  for  his  benefit  the  "man- 
ager" of  the  den  put  his  "pupils"  through  their  "lessons." 

These  lessons  were  in  shoplifting,  pocket  picking,  purso 
snatching  and  other  forms  of  larceny  requiring  skill  and  deft- 
ness. When  he  had  seen  enough  Wooldridge  g(M)erously  volun- 
teered to  "rush  the  growler"  and  went  out — and  called  the 
patrol  wagon.  Twenty-three  crooks  were  arrested  this  time. 
Each  one  of  them  swore  he  would  have  killed  the  detective  had 


BIOUKAPHY  41 

his  makeup  or  conduct  for  an  instant  directed  suspicion  toward 
him. 

Makes  High  Dive. 

Xovember  30,  1896,  Detective  Wooldridge  made  a  high  dive. 

To  offset  his  aerial  stunt  he  took  a  high  dive  from  the  top  of 
a  building,  landing  on  his  head  in  a  pile  of  refuse  with  such 
force  as  to  go  "in  over  his  head"  and  stick  there  so  tightly 
that  it  required  the  combined  strength  of  two  officers  to  pull 
him  out  by  the  legs. 

It  was  near  Twelfth  and  State  streets  while  pursuing  two 
women  across  a  roof  that  his  remarkable  stunt  took  place.  The 
women  jumped  from  the  roof  into  a  pile  of  refuse.  They  landed 
on  their  feet.  Wooldridge  came  after  them.  He  landed  on 
liis  head.  As  he  landed  he  grasped  a  Avoman  with  either  hand, 
and  held  them  until  the  arrival  of  his  brother  officers  effected 
his  release  and  their  capture. 

But  these  are  only  humorous  incidents,  things  to  laugh  over 
when  the  day's  work  is  done.  In  the  parlance  of  the  detectives, 
they  belong  to  "straight  police  work."  As  a  direct  antithesis 
to  them  is  the  story  of  the  murder  and  the  black  cat,  which 
is  in  real  life  a  weirder  and  more  startling  affair  than  Poe's 
fantastic  tale  of  the  same  subject.  A  black  cat  helped  solve  a 
murder  in  a  way  which  puts  a  distinct  strain  on  the  credulity 
of  the   uninitiated. 

Story  Rivals  Poe's  ^'Black  Cat." 

A  rich  man  had  been  murdered  in  a  certain  part  of  the  city. 
He  was  in  his  library  at  the  time  of  the  crime.  His  family 
was  in  an  adjoining  room,  yet  none  of  them  heard  any  noise, 
or  knew  what  had  been  done  until  they  found  him  lifeless  on 
the  floor.  Investigation  proved  that  he  had  been  shot,  but  not 
with  an  ordinary  weapon.  The  missile  in  his  heart  was  a  com- 
bination of  bullet  and  dart,  evidently  propelled  from  a  powerful 
air  rifle  or  spring  gun.     But  no  clew  was  left  by  the  perpe- 


42  BIOGEAPHY 

trator  of  the  crime,  and  Wooldridge  carried  the  strange  mis- 
sile in  his  pocket  for  several  months  before  a  single  prospect 
of  apprehending  the  murderer  appeared.  Then  it  was  the 
black  cat  that  did  it.  What  strange  coincidence  or  freak  of 
fate  it  was  that  impelled  the  cat  to  literally  lead  the  detective 
to  a  little  pile  of  dirt  in  an  alley  that  night  Wooldridge  never 
has  attempted  to  explain.  But  lead  him  it  did,  and  when  he 
dug  into  the  disturbed  ground  he  found  something  entirely  new 
in  the  ^un  line,  the  weapon  that  had  discharged  the  fatal 
bullet  in  his  pocket.  Eventually  he  traced  the  gun  to  its  in- 
ventor, and  from  there  to  the  man  who  had  purchased  it,  a 
young  fellow  named  Johnson,  and  a  supposed  friend  of  the 
murdered  man's  family.  The  consequence  was  that  this  man 
proved  to  be  the  murderer.  When  arrested  he  at  first  denied 
his  guilt,  broke  down  under  the  sweatbox  ordeal  and  confessed, 
and — killed  himself  in  his  cell  next  morning. 

For  mystery  and  good  fortune  in  bringing  an  apparently 
untraceable  criminal  to  justice  this  incident  perhaps  has  never 
been  equaled  in  Chicago's  police  records. 

On  Duty  in  Great  Strike. 

In  1900  Chicago's  great  building  trade  strike  occurred  in 
which  60,000  men  were  thrown  out  of  employment.  Many 
acts  of  violence  were  committed.  Several  men  were  killed  and 
many  maimed  and  injured. 

Detective  Wooldridge  was  placed  in  charge  of  thirty  picked 
detectives  from  the  detective  bureau  with  orders  to  suppress 
these  lawless  acts  and  arrest  the  guilty  offenders.  Through 
his  vigilance  and  untiring  efforts  law  and  order  were  soon  re- 
stored, and  he  was  highly  complimented  by  Chief  of  Police 
Joseph  Kiplcy  and  the  public  press. 

Literally  speaking,  the  darkest  t^ituation  into  wliich  his  ex- 
periences have  led  him  was  the  tunnel  by  which  inmates  of 
Mattie  Lee's  famous  resort  at  150  Custom  House  place  escaped 
when  the  place  was  raided.     Mattie  had  decided  that  it  was  a 


BIOGRAPHY  43 

nuisance  to  go  to  the  station  every  time  the  police  wanted  to 
arrest  her,  so  she  had  the  tunnel  dug. 

After  that  when  the  police  called  on  her  Mattie  greeted  them 
with  an  empty  house  and  a  sweet  smile,  while  underground  the 
inmates  were  crawling  on  their  hands  and  knees  to  safety. 
Wooldridge  found  the  tunnel  and,  crawling  in,  "snaked  out" 
six  colored  men  and  women  whom  he  found  in  the  darkness. 
Versatility  is  a  requisite  with  the  successful  detective. 

Remarkable  Work  as  a'  Ragpicker. 

May  28,  1905,  perhaps,  his  appearance  in  the  role  of  a  rag- 
picker, which  led  to  the  arrest  and  conviction  of  two  negro 
highwaymen,  Henry  Reed  and  Ed  Lane,  was  his  most  daring 
and  successful  effort  at  disguise.  Lane  is  at  present  serving 
a  lif^  sentence  in  Joliet  for  the  murder  of  Robert  Metcalfe. 

The  assault  and  robbery  of  a  contractor  named  Anderson 
was  the  occasion  for  Wooldridge's  assumption  of  the  guise  of 
ragpicker.  Anderson  had  described  Lane  so  accurately  that  the 
detective  was  sure  of  recognizing  him  once  he  put  his  eyes 
upon  him,  but  in  those  days  a  detective  to  go  into  the  black 
belt  looking  for  a  criminal  was  to  spread  a  wide  alarm  over 
the  whole  district.  Consequently  he  "made  up."  A  pair  of 
large,  worn  overalls,  a  coat  three  sizes  too  large,  a  bunch  of 
papers  between  his  shoulder  blades  to  give  him  a  hunch  back, 
burnt  cork,  a  curly  wig,  a  bag  and  a  piece  of  telegraph  wire, 
and  the  erstwhile  shrewd-looking  detective  was  in  ten  minutes 
the  typical  negro  ragpicker  who  shambles  up  and  down  alleys 
on  the  south  side  in  hope  of  picking  up  enough  for  his  day's 
bread. 

While  thus  pursuing  his  way  Wooldridge  not  only  discovered 
the  presence  of  Reed  and  Lane,  but  actually  worked  through 
the  refuse  in  a  garbage  box  upon  which  Lane  was  sitting  quar- 
reling with  some  confederates  over  the  division  of  the  previous 
night's  spoils.    He  even  went  so  far  as  to  pick  up  an  old  coat 


44  RIOOHAPHY 

wliich  Lane  liad  discarded.  'I'hcrt'upon  Lane  ordered  him  to 
set  out  of  the  ;dl(!y  or  j^'el  his  throat  cut  froui  ear  to  ear. 
AA'ooldridire  weut  liunihly  out.  and  waited. 

Hero  of  So.mi:  Fiekck  Fights. 

Presently  Lane  and  Keed  appeared  and  went  south  on  State 
street.  Wooldridge  followed,  and  at  an  opportune  moment 
seized  them  hoth  from  hehind.  The  fight  that  followed  is 
historic.  Only  sheer  Itick  and  tlie  threat  to  kill  hoth  antag- 
onists on  the  spot  if  they  did  not  cease  resistance  saved  the 
detective's  life.  After  knocking  hoth  men  down  with  his  billy 
he  succeeded  in  hohling  them  until  a  fellow  officer  came  to 
his  rescue.  They  were  arrested  and  convicted  June  25,  100.'). 
and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  three  years.  « 

May  19,  lOOG,  Detective  Wooldridge  raided  the  following 
places:  H.  C.  Evins,  125  S.  Clark  street;  George  Deshone. 
64  ?^.  Clark  .street;  E.  Manning  Stockton,  Bar  &  Co.,  50  Fifth 
avenue,  seizing  some  $30,000  worth  of  gambling  paraphernalia. 

Disclosures  of  conditions  which  so  seriously  threatened  the 
discipline  of  the  T'nited  States  army  and  navy  that  the  secre- 
taries of  tlie  two  departments  and  even  President  Roosevelt 
himself  were  called  upon  to  aid  in  their  suppression. 

It  was  charged  that  a  coterie  of  Chicago  men  engaged  in 
making  and  selling  these  devices  had  formed  a  "trust"  and 
had  for  years  robbed,  swindled  and  corrupted  the  enlisted  men 
of  the  army  and  navy  through  loaded  .dice,  "holdouts,"  mag- 
netized roulette  wheels  and  other  crooked  gaml)ling  apparatus. 

('i:o()K!;i)  (; A.Miti.iNC  TursT. 

The  "crooked"  gnml)ling  "trust"  in  Chicago  spread  over  the 
civilized  world,  had  its  clutches  on  nearly  every  United  States 
battleship,  army  post  and  military  prison;  caused  wholesale 
desertions,  and  in  general  corrupted  tlie  entire  defensive  in- 
stitution of  the  nation. 


BIOGRAPHY  45 

Thy  to  Corrupt  Schoolboys. 

Besides  the  corruption  of  the  army,  these  companies  are 
said  to  have  aimed  a  blow  at  the  foundation  of  the  nation  by 
offering,  through  a  mail  order  plan,  for  six  cents,  loaded  dice 
to  schoolboys,  provided  they  sent  the  names  of  likely  gamblers 
among  their  playmates. 

This  plan  had  not  reached  its  full  growth  when  nipped. 
But  the  disruption  of  the  army  and  navy  had  been  under  way 
for  several  years  and  had  reached  such  gigantic  proportions 
that  the  military  service  was  in  danger  of  complete  disorgani- 
zation. 

Thousands  of  men  were  mulcted  of  their  pay  monthly.  De- 
sertions followed  these  wholesale  robberies.  The  war  depart- 
ment could  not  find  the  specific  trouble.  Post  commanders  and 
battleship  commanders  were  instructed  to  investigate. 

The  army  investigation,  confirmed  after  the  raid  and  ar- 
rests, showed  that  the  whole  army  had  been  honeycombed  with 
corruption  by  these  companies.  Express  books  and  registered 
mail  return  cards  showed  that  most  of  the  goods  were  sold 
to  soldiers  and  sailors. 

Detective  Wooldridge  Secures  Evidexce  in  Novel  Way. 

In  August,  1890,  complaints  had  been  made  at  the  Stanton 
'Avenue  Police  Station  for  several  Aveeks  concerning  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  disorderly  house  at  306  Thirty-first  street,  but 
try  as  they  would  uniformed  officers  were  helpless  so  far  as  se- 
curing evidence  enough  to  convict  was  concerned.  Wooldridge 
at  that  time  a  uniformed  man,  was  put  in  plain  clothes  and 
detailed  on  the  ease.  One  of  the  great  stumbling  blocks  in 
the  way  of  the  police  had  been  the  high  basement  under  the 
house,  which  made  it  impossible  for  any  one  to  look  in  the 
windows  of  the  flat  without  the  aid  of  the  ladder.  As  the  pres- 
ence of  a  ladder  would  arouse  suspicion,  the  problem  of  view- 
ing the  inside  of  the  flat  was  a  difficult  one. 


46  BIOUBAPHY 

One  thing  the  other  men  on  the  case  had  overlooked.  This 
was  the  presence  of  a  beam  jutting  out  from  the  top  of  the 
building  to  which  a  rope,  pulley,  and  barrel  were  attached, 
used  as  a  means  of  lowering  garbage  and  ashes  from  the  second 
floor  to  the  alley.  Wooldridge  saw  the  possibilities  of  the  rope 
and  barrel  trick.  Attaching  to  the  rope  a  vinegar  barrel  with 
holes  bored  in  it  at  convenient  intervals,  he  awaited  an  oppor- 
tune time,  curled  up  in  the  barrel,  and  had  himself  drawn  up 
to  the  level  of  the  windows  by  two  officers.  The  lowering  and 
raising  of  the  barrel  being  a  customary  thing  in  the  building, 
excited  no  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  those  in  the  flat,  and 
Wooldridge,  with  his  sleuth's  eye  at  one  of  the  holes,  saw  what 
served  to  drive  the  place  out  of  existence  and  secure  the  con- 
viction of  its  keeper. 

Acts  as  Vendor  of  Fighting  "Chickens." 

One  of  the  last  exploits  of  Detective  Woolridge  before  his 
completion  of  the  twenty  years  of  service,  was  the  breaking  up 
of  the  cock-fighting  mains,  which  infested  Chicago  during  the 
latter  part  of  1900  and  the  early  part  of  1907. 

The  story  savors  of  the  burlesque.  Wooldridge  obtained  in- 
formation as  to  the  whereabouts  of  a  cock-fight  which  was  to 
be  pulled  off.  ■  Then  he  sought  out  and  purchased  a  pair  of 
decrepit  old  roosters,  that  would  not  fight  an  English  sparrow, 
bundled  them  into  a  sack  and  started  for  scene  of  action.  Ar- 
rived in  wliat  he  knew  to  be  the  neighborhood  of  the  fight,  he 
declared  that  he  had  been  sent  to  deliver  some  "fightin'  chick- 
uns."  He  was  directed  to  an  old,  abandoned  building.  Here 
he  was  admitted  and  left  the  antique  roosters.  Then  he  said 
he  was  going  for  more  birds.  Instead  he  went  for  a  patrol 
wagon.    And  that  was  the  end  of  the  chicken  fight. 

The  trapping  of  the  Wildcat  Insurance  companies  furnishes 
one  of  the  most  dramatic  chapters  in  the  financial  history  of 
the  United  States,  if  not  in  the  world.  It  involves  millions 
of  stolen  dollars,  brutal  filching  from  the  poor,  heartless  com- 


BIOGRAPHY  47 

mercial  brigandage  and  finally  the  running  to  earth  and  con- 
viction of  the  ringleaders  and  promoters  of  the  "WILDCAT 
INSUEANCE  COMPANIES"  OF  CHICAGO,  by  Detective 
Wooldridge. 

The  police  and  postal  authorities  vi^orked  together.  Two 
thousand  eight  hundred  letters  were  sent  out  asking  for  infor- 
mation and  gathering  evidence. 

At  the  trial  of  Dr.  S.  W.  Jacobs,  on  one  of  these  cases,  there 
were  200  witnesses  present.  Five  of  these  witnesses  were  vic- 
tims, and  lived  in  tents.  Three  were  living  in  wagons:  One. 
Samuel  James,  of  Westfield,  Illinois,  a  carpenter,  64  years  of 
age,  had  a  wife  and  six  children.  He  had  built  his  house 
rtiorning  and  evening. 

Bribery  Tactics  of  No  Avail. 

James  accomplished  the  end  of  his  heart's  desire.  It  cost 
him  $900  and  his  health,  for  he  was  in  the  clutches  of  con- 
sumption when  the  cottage  was  finally  paid  for.  Fearing  lest 
the  fruit  of  his  life-work  should  be  swept  away  by  fire,  James 
took  out  an  insurance  policy  in  one  of  Dr.  S.  W.  Jacobs'  Wild- 
cat Insurance  companies.  The  house  burned  down  and  he  was 
not  indemnified.  With  his  wife  and  six  little  children  James 
was  forced  to  take  shelter  in  a  chicken  coop,  where  they  were 
living  when  the  broken-hearted  father  came  to  Chicago  as  a 
witness  against  Dr.  S.  W.  Jacobs. 

Twenty-five  thousand  dollars  was  tendered  to  an  attorney 
to  bribe  Wooldridge  in  the  case. 

The  breaking  up  of  the  drug  ring,  however,  was  a  delicate 
task.  It  was  strongly  backed  financially,  and  it  was  aided  and 
abetted  throughout  the  United  States  by  political  rings  galore. 
Chicago  was  the  headquarters. 

A  ten  thousand  dollar  bribe  was  offered  Detective  Wooldridge, 
October  29,  1904,  by  the  spurious  medicine  concerns  to  return 
their  goods  and  stop  the  prosecution;  this  failed.  Then  false 
and  malicious  charges  were  filed  with  the  Civil  Service  Com- 


48  BIOGRAPHY 

missioners  against  Wooldridge,  which  was  taken  up  and  th«; 
trial  lasted  nineteen  sessions. 

Detective  Wooldridge  was  exonerated  by  the  entire  board 
of  commissioners,  and  complimented  by  the  press  and  public- 
spirited  citizens. 

Detective  Wooldridge  secured  four  indictments  against  the 
above  four  men,  which  was  returned  by  the  Cook  county  grand 
jury  May  25,  1905.  J.  S.  Dean  turned  state's  evidence  and 
assisted  the  prosecution. 

J.  H.  Carson  promoted  and  run  eighteen  different  matrimonial 
agencies.  He  was  arrested  eighteen  times.  He  offered  Woold- 
ridge a  bribe  of  $100  per  month  not  to  arrest  him.  This  failed 
and  he  brought  suit  in  the  Superior  Court  against  AVooldridge 
for  $5,000  damages,  thinking  this  would  stop  him.  The  next 
day  after  filing  the  suit  he  was  arrested  again,  and  was  finally 
driven  out  of  Chicago. 

From  $10,000  to  $20,000  has  been  off'ered  at  a  time  for  his 
discharge  or  transfer  by  these  get-rich-quick  concerns.  Every 
political  pressure  was  brought  to  bear,  but  to  no  avail. 

Ex-Chief  of  Police  Francis  O'Xeill,  in  his  annual  report  of 
1905,  states  that  Detective  Wooldridge  accomplished  more  work 
in  breaking  up  the  get-rich-quick  concerns  in  Chicago,  in  the 
year  1904,  than  the  whole  Chicago  police  department  had  in 
its  lifetime.  He  did  eqtially  as  much  work,  if  not  more,  in  the 
years  of  1905,  1906  and  1907. 

The  day  is  never  too  long  nor  the  night  too  dark  for  De- 
tective Wooldridge  to  find  time  to  succor  or  save  a  young  girl 
who  has  gone  wrong  or  strayed  from  the  path  of  rectitude. 

Detective  Wooldridge,  without  fear  or  favor,  for  many  years 
inaugurated  crusades  and  waged  wars  against  the  liosts  of 
criminal  enterprise.  Whenever  a  man  or  ((nueni  could  imt 
show  a  "clear  bill  of  health''  he  lorcrd  him  to  "disinfect,  de- 
part or  submit  to  the  quarantine  of  the  ef)iinty  jail." 

By  vigilance  and  hard  work  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  good 
results.     Units,  scores,  and  legions  of  fraudulent  concerns  have 


BIOGKAPHY  49 

been  exposed  and  driven  out  of  existence.  Owners  of  others, 
anticipating  exposure,  did  not  wait,  but  closed  their  places  and 
fled.  Many  headquarters  of  contraband  schemes  have  been 
raided  and  their  promoters  arrested,  fined,  and  forced  to  cease 
operations.  During  that  time  retributive  justice  has  been  vis- 
ited upon  countless  heads  that  were  devoted  to  devising  crim- 
inal schemes. 

Detective  Wooldridge  permits  no  creed,  color,  religion  or 
politics  to  interfere  with  him  in  his  sworn  duty.  He  wants 
and  exacts  the  truth,  and  a  square  deal  for  himself,  and  ac- 
cords the  same  to  his  fellow  men.  He  has  never  been  known- 
to  wilfully  persecute  any  man  or  to  lie  or  strain  a  point  to 
convict  him,  neither  will'  ho  suffer  the  same  to  be  done  by  any 
man  if  he  can  prevent  it. 

Wooldridge's  motto  is  equal  justice  to  all — be  sure  you  are- 
right,  then  go  ahead. 

James    P.    AViLsoisr, 


What  Are  YOU  Going  to  Do  About  It? 


GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE 


THE  REIGN  OF  GRAFT. 

Recent    Exposures    That    Show    How     Strongly     It    Is 
Intrenched. 

ARE  YOU  A  GRAFTER? 

Those     Shocked     at     Exposures     May     Not     Be     Clean 
Themselves. 

"A  'grafter'  is  one  who  makes  his  living  (and  sometimes  Ins 
fortune)  by  'grafting/  He  may  be  a  political  boss,  a  mayor, 
a  chief  of  police,  a  warden  of  a  penitentiary,  a  municipal  con- 
tractor, a  member  of  a  town  council,  a  representative  in  the 
legislature,  a  judge  in  the  courts,  and  the  upper  world  may 
know  him  only  in  his  political  capacity;  but  if  the  under 
world  has  had  occasion  to  approach  him  for  purposes  of  *graft' 
and  found  him  corrupt,  he  is  immediately  classified  as  an 
'unmugged  grafter' — one  whose  photograph  is  not  in  the 
rogues'  gallery,  but  ought  to  be.  The  professional  thief  is  the 
'mugged  grafter';  his  jDhotograph  and  Bertillon  measurements 
are  known  and  recorded. 

The  world  of  graft  is  whereever  known  and  unknown  thieves 
or  bribetakers  congregate.  In  the  United  States  it  is  fovmd 
mainly  in  the  large  cities,  but  its  boundaries  take  in  small 
county  seats  and  even  villages.  A  correct  map  of  it  is  im- 
possible, because  in  a  great  many  places  it  is  represented  by 


rrZ  (iHAFT   XATlU.XS  W  UKST  1:0E 

au  unknown  rather  than  by  a  known  inhabitant,  by  a  dishonest, 
ofiicial  or  an  unscrupulous  and  wary  politician  rather  than  a 
confessed  thief,  and  the  geographer  is  helpless  until  he  can 
collect  the  facts,  which  may  never  come  to  light.  The  most 
that  one  man  can  do  is  to  make  voyages  of  discovery,  find  out 
what  he  can  and  report  upon  his  experiences  to  the  general 
public. 

Within  the  last  year  or  two  it  has  become  practically  a 
synonym  for  a  thief  who  filches  public  money  and  money  of 
large  enterprises.  It  has  been  so  largely  used  in  the  public 
prints  and  periodicals,  and  more  recently  in  books,  that  it  has 
spread  abroad ;  and  London  and  Paris  and  Berlin,  in  referring 
to  many  American  disclosures,  adopt  the  word  without  any 
translation.  So  today  no  American  word  is  better  known 
cither  in  this  country  or  in  Europe. 

When  men  in  office  take  a  bribe  and  give  away  what  does 
not  belong  to  them,  it  is  more  than  the  double  crime  of  ex- 
torting and  stealing;  it  is  treason.  Graft  is  the  worst  form 
of  despotism.  It  is  a  usurpation  of  government  by  the  forces 
of  crime.  There  have  been  many  virtuous  kings  and  honest 
feudal  lords,  but  the  despotism  of  graft  never  founded  its  rule 
upon  a  semblance  of  the  moral   law. 

rjraft  in  its  highest  personification  is  the  king  of  the  Amer- 
ican nation  in  political,  commercial  and  social  life. 

Graft  is  Gveklohd. 

Overlord  of  80,000,000  people  in  the  greatest  republic  of 
history,  commanding  his  tens  of  millions  of  dollars  annuallv 
as  tribute  to  graft  in  a  million  of  liis  impersonations — was  Sol- 
omon in  all  his  glory  to  be  compared  with  this? 

Nine  states  in  the  union  of  forty-five  states  recently  h.w 
•  b'elared  that  graft  exposures  have  not  been  in  their  cati^gorics 
nf  political  publicity  for  a  year.  They  are  Afaine,  North  Cnro- 
lina,  Afississippi.  Town.  Michi.LfJin.  rujorado.  Xrw  York.  Illinois 


GKAFT  NATION'S  WOKST  FOE 


53 


5^        GKAFT  NATIONS  WOKST  FOE 

and  California.     But  who  shall  say  what  another  six  months 
may  bring  forth? 

In  industrial,  commercial  and  social  life  of  the  xVmerican 
people  there  is  not  a  state  in  which  King  Graft  has  not  his 
court  and  his  following.  In  the  capital  of  capitals  at  Wash- 
ington for  generations  the  powers  of  government  as  dreamed 
of  for  the  republic  have  been  superseded  by  King  Graft  time 
after  time,  and  the  impeachment  of  his  princes,  grand  dukes 
and  courtiers  generally  have  not  threatened  his  reign  in  future 
generations. 

Scores  of  Proud  NamUs  Smirched. 

Within  the  last  few  years  names  that  have  stood  honored 
for  a  generation  in  financial,  political  and  social  life  have 
been  dragged  down  from  high  places  perliaps  as  never  before 
in  America.  The  court  of  King  Graft  has  been  attacked  and 
threatened  as  never  before,  and  with  greater  showing.  There 
is  war  in  the  open  against  this  pretender  king,  and  his  legions 
everywhere  are  retiring  behind  their  breastworks,  broken  but 
not  defeated. 

Graft  in  its  nakedness,  has  been  exposed  and  the  people  are 
aroused,  fearing  that  the  grafter  has  sucked  the  life  blood  of 
the  republic. 

What  they  have  seen  is  but  a  glimpse  of  real  conditions — 
the  ulcer  spots  where  the  rottenness  beneath  has  broken 
through — but  they  have  seen  enough  to  realize  the  peril  and 
attack  it.  Wliile  the  conditions  revealed  are  astounding  and 
alarming,  they  are  signs  of  improvement. 

The  nation  is  better  than  it  was  a  decade  ago,  since  tens  of 
thousands  of  grafters  have  been  stamped  out,  since  the  leaders 
of  the  greatest  grafts  of  the  land  have  been  exposed  to  the 
withering  light  of  contempt  of  all  decent  Americans. 

Life  of  Natio.v  Imperiled. 
Also,  bom  of  the  conditions,  there  has  arisen  a  little  armv 


(iiiAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE 


55 


56  OR  A  FT  .VATI()\-S  WORST   FOK 

of  leaders  willinp:  to  engage  the  enemy  and  lead  the  people 
against  the  gralteis.  They  have  heen  raised  up  to  meet  the 
crisis  of  the  nation's  life,  and  with  every  blow  they  strike  new 
recruits  are  joining  them  in  the  war  against  graft. 

They  are  still  weak,  and  King  Graft  and  his  votaries  arc 
still  strong,  hut  during  the  last  year  the  leaders  have  won  sonic 
remarkahle  skirmishes  and  routed  the  grafters. 

Nation,  States  axd  Cities  Aroused. 

Senators  and  congressmen  at  the  national  capital  have  heen 
impeached,  and  indicted,  and  tried,  and  convicted  of  grafting. 

Bureau  officials,  as  in  the  cotton  scandal,  the  postoffiee 
frauds,  and  otlier  of  the  departments,  and  civil  service  exposes 
have  heen  arraigned  by  their  own  democracy  for  traitor  in- 
trigues with  King  Graft,  and  have  been  beheaded. 

State  senators,  representatives,  treasurers  and  the  innumer- 
able "small  fry"  of  official  life,  together  with  the  millionaire 
briber  and  his  henchmen  at  state  capitals,  have  been  uncovered 
and  convicted  of  de])auching  democracy  in  l)ehalf  of  a  pre- 
tender sovereign. 

Great  cities  have  been  shaken  with  the  inquisitorial  rounds 
of  investigations.  Philadelphia  of  Independence  memories  has 
been  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting;  in  St.  TiOuis 
the  prosecutor  governor.  Folk,  has  stirred  corruption  to  the 
depths:  New  York  has  been  moved  as  it  has  not  been  since 
the  overthrow  of  Tammany;  IMinneapolis  has  been  cleansed: 
and  the  spcctftcular  "graft  hunt"  in  l\rilwaukee  has  beiMi  a 
lesson  in  "how  to  do  it."  Perhaps  never  before  in  the  history 
of  America  have  so  many  grafters  been  scattered  to  the  winds, 
in  hiding  or  locked  behind  the  bars  of  prisons. 

President  Treads  Foes  of  Graft. 

But  King  Graft  wears  the  crown  of  the  pretender  still, 
and  there  are  few  of  his  fighting  enemies  who  are  disposed  i.. 
rest  upon  tlieir  arms  in  cither  truce  or  armistice. 


UKAF'l'  NAT10N\S  WOKST  FOE        •  57 

The  war  against  graft  is  led  by  the  pref?ident  of  the  United 
►States,  who  .stands  as  the  foremost  foe  of  grafting — 
political,  financial  or  social — in  the  world,  and  behind  him  is 
a  plialanx  led  by  Folk,  Jerome,  Riis,  Lawson,  Hadley,  Miss 
Tarbell,  Deneen,  Monnctt  and  others  of  their  type,  fighting 
the  nation's  most  crucial  battle. 

The  grafters  have  declared  that  the  objects  of  some  of  these 
men  were  selfish,  but,  no  matter  for  what  object  they  fight, 
they  are  routing  the  grafters  in  many  fields  and  showing  to 
the  awakening  public  the  peril  of  the  situation ;  revealing  to 
a  commonweal  til  tlio  worms  gnawing  at  the  vitals  of  the  re- 
j)ublic. 

Forces  of  Graft  Hard  Pressed. 

Never  were  the  forces  of  money  and  commercial  and  in- 
dustrial power  so  bewildered  and  so  uncertain  of  the  way  to 
turn  as  they  are  now.  Graft,  to  their  best  interests,  is  still 
covertly  a  necessity  to  them,  but  covert  graft  never  was  so 
liard  to  keep  covert,  now  that  briber  and  the  bribed  are  the 
common  quarry  of  the  law.  The  time  was  when  the  rich  man 
who  bought  political  power  to  his  uses  was  unnamed,  stand- 
ing apart.  The  grafter  legislator  was  the  cause  and  the  con- 
sequence. Beginning  and  ending  with  the  corrupt  official  whose 
official  place  was  grafted  upon  corruption,  the  official  became 
immune  from  the  consequences. 

"Grafting  in  this  state  never  has  cost  the  taxpayer  a  dollar," 
was  one  of  the  slogans  of  a  machine  government  in  its  at- 
tempts to  perpetuate  that  machine  for  the  purposes  of  King 
Graft  and  his  court. 

But  this  false  i:)hilosophy  slowly  was  undermined.  Not  only 
was  it  found  that  graft  did  cost  money  to  the  state,  but  it 
became  a  certainty  that  it  was  costing  something  even  more 
valuable  than  money.  Graft  became  the  one  object  of  the 
political  seeker  after  office.  The  impersonal  graft-giver  was 
a    hanger-on    at    lawmaking   centers,    and    the   political    graft- 


58  GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE 

seeker  was  insisting  upon  election  or  appointment  to  the 
machine    positions. 

Hideous  Peril  Is  Revealed. 

The  result,  first,  was  a  campaign  upon  the  man  who  had  the 
gi-aft  to  dispense.  He  was  sought  out,  and  was  found  in  high 
places.  His  lobbyists  were  more  easily  marked  than  was  the 
principal.  So  the  law  and  the  law's  executive  began  also  to 
campaign  against  the  lobbyists.  Suddenly  the  "good  fellow" 
at  a  state  capitol  who  had  with  him  the  perquisites  of  good 
fellowship  in  graft  measure  found  himself  facing  the  interro- 
gation : 

"What  are  you  doing  here?'' 

The  scope  of  the  query  has  grown,  and  it  is  still  growing,  in 
some  quarters  even  to  the  point  of  requiring  the  man  who  is 
elected  to  office  to  render  the  cost  figure  of  his  successful  cam- 
paign. All  over  the  country,  and  touching  nearly  every  rela- 
tion in  official,  commercial  and  financial  life,  men  have  been 
put  on  the  griddle  of  publicity  by  courts  and  commissions, 
and  with  backs  to  the  wall  have  been  sitting  in  the  witness 
chair,  holding  to  the  one  surly  response  to  an  irritating,  pene- 
trating cross-examination :  "Decline  to  answer  on  advice  of 
counsel." 

But  for  all  purposes  of  publicity  have  not  these  refusals  to 
answer  carried   light  enough? 

"The  public  be  d d !"  was  the  original  first  utterance  of 

the  millionaire,  designed  to  stop  interrogations  which  would 
not  down. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?"  was  the  counter  ques- 
tion of  the  political  grafter  who  once  was  cliarged  witli 
grafting. 

"Where  did  he  get  it?"  came  to  be  a  question  of  the  poli- 
tician for  political  purposes,  and  within  a  year  the  country  has 
heard  non-political  bodies  asking  the  same  question  of  the 
millionaire   philanthropist   who    has   been    trying   to   give   it 


GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE 

THE  CAVE  OF  DESPAIR. 


59 


60        GKAFT  NATION "8  WUKST  FOE 

away.  Under  the  growing  interrogations  of  the  time,  names 
have  been  thrown  from  pedestals  Avithin  a  year  as  names  never 
before  were  juggled  by  the  fates. 

Idols  Covered  with  Slime. 

Depew,  once  a  candidate  for  nomination  for  the  presidency, 
a  United  States  senator  still  by  some  grace  of  toleration,  and 
at  one  time  referred  to  in  European  royal  circles  as  a  "repre- 
sentative American  citizen." 

United  States  Senator  Mitchell  became  a  derelict,  politically 
and  socially. 

United  States  Senator  Thomas  C.  Piatt  was  wrecked  in  the 
wreckage. 

United  States  Senator  Burton  became  blackened  in  the 
charges  of  graft. 

Depew  is  a  name  no  longer  to  conjure  with. 

Then  followed  a  long  list  of  the  commercially  and  financially 
prominent  civilians,  blackened,  and  with  such  blackness  as 
never  to  be  white  again  by  any  of  the  old  processes  which  once 
sufficed. 

Graft  is  still  king.  But,  truer  than  of  any  other  monarch,  it 
may  be  repeated:  "Uneasy  lies  the  head  that  wears  the 
crown." 

The  Unconscious  Ghafteh. 

It  was  a  rhetorical  and  sensational  sentence  in  which  a  re- 
cent speaker  in  this  city  declared  that  the  worst  grafter  is 
the  man  who  does  not  vote.  But  there  is  much  more  than 
a  kernel  of  truth  in  the  words.  The  citizens  of  a  republic 
need  constant  stimulus  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  plainest  duties 
of  life.  The  l)etter  the  working  of  the  machinery  of  govern- 
ment, the  less  the  average  man  is  affected.  He  rarely  feels  ihr 
pressure  of  taxation.  TIc^  lives  in  a.  generation  from  whi(!h  no 
military  service  is  demanded.  He  is  permitted  freedom  of 
thought,  speech   and   religion,  and   altnost   insensiblv,  as  a   re- 


GKAFT  XATiON\S  WUPuST  FOE  61 

suit,  lie  loses  sight  of  the  supreme  obligation  which  is  due 
his  couiitr3\  He  forgets  that  that  country,  in  time  of  public 
stress,  may  demand  his  time,  his  property  and  his  life,  drafting 
him  for  its  armies  if  he  does  not  wish  to  Tolunteer,  governing 
him  under  martial  law,  which  sets  aside  the  usual  privileges 
accorded  him,  and  exercising  over  him,  if  need  be,  a  tyranny 
ordinarily  associated  with  despotism  among  the  older  peoples. 
The  very  fact  that  the  American  citizen  does  not  often  feel 
the  exercise  of  the  sovereign  power,  and  is  not  called  upon 
to  pay  the  supreme  obligation  of  service,  makes  him  careless 
of  his  civic  duties,  when,  it  might  be  thought,  he  would  feel 
the  utmost  gratitude  for  the  privilege  of  living  under  such 
favoring  conditions.  This  carelessness  becomes  chronic,  and 
there  is  abundant  need  for  the  constant  reiterati<jn  of  the  call 
to  duty.  If,  then,  a  citizen  is  content  to  enjoy  the  comforts 
and  the  quiet  of  American  life  without  rendering  any  return 
therefor,  he  may  justly  be  called  a  grafter,  and  a  grafter  of 
that  worst  sort,  who  robs  his  benefactor.  For,  with  duty  faith- 
fully performed  by  the  citizen,  public  opinion  is  readily  shaped, 
lawg  quickly  secure  enforcement,  and  public  servants  are  kept 
clean  and  true.  It  all  comes  back  at  last  to  the  individual 
citizen,  upon  whom  must  rest  the  responsibility  for  failure  or 
success  jot  government.  It  is  easy  enough  to  cry  out  against 
the  grafter  in  official  position  who  puts  his  hand  into  the  pub- 
lic treasury.  Perhaps,  after  all,  the  worst  offender  is  the 
citizen  who  does  not  vote,  who  does  not  take  a  lively  interest  in 
the  selection  and  election  of  his  rulers,  who  fails  to  recognize 
the  underlying  obligation  of  service  which  his  country  has  a 
just   right   to   demand   of   him. 

War  on  Graft  Just  Beginning. 

But,  thus  far,  only  the  beginning  of  the  truth  has  been 
shown.  There  remains  the  senate  of  the  United  States,  the 
railway  companies,  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  the  great 
trusts,  the  multimillionaires,  to  be  investigated.     All  of  them 


62  UKAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE 

now  are  in  the  limelight.  The  courts  of  law  are  under  sus- 
picion and  must  clear  themselves  by  their  acts,  for  undoubt- 
edly the  revelations  of  the  last  year  have  shaken  the  faith  of 
the  people  in  their  judges. 

After  these,  the  huge  powers  of  the  land,  cleansed  states,  coun- 
ties and  cities  must  Join  the  Augean  stable-cleaning,  for  graft 
is  everywhere.  The  fight  against  graft  is  only  beginning,  and 
it  will  end  only  when  a  new  generation  learns  that  honor  is 
above  money,  and  that  "grafting"  is  the  most  disreputable 
form  of  theft. 

Wholesale  Swindling  Gilifters. 

A  chain  of  stores  in  various  cities  for  no  other  purpose  than 
the  obtaining  of  goods  under  false  pretenses  from  wholesale 
merchants  is  the  latest  novelty  in  the  swindling  line.  It  has 
often  been  remarked  that  the  originators  of  plans  to  dupe  the 
public  might  coin  their  brains  into  cash  without  nearly  the 
draft  upon  their  originality  that  is  called  for  by  the  devising 
of  a  swindling  game.  But  the  criminal  instinct  or  incentive 
seems  to  lay  its  hold  upon  persons  who  might  otherwise  fill 
a  leading  and  respected  place  in  honorable  avocations.  The 
men  who  conceived  the  system  of  credit  for  goods  to  the 
value  of  many  thousands  of  dollars,  which  they  quickly  dis- 
posed of  in  different  cities  by  auction  and  attractive  sales, 
closing  up  their  stores  and  decamping  when  tliey  had  con- 
verted the  credited  stock  into  cash,  were  swindlers  of  unusual 
calibre. 

The  police  of  several  cities  now  liave  the  task  of  unearthing 
the  frauds  and  bringing  them  to  justice.  They  may  or  may 
not  succeed  in  so  doing,  as  the  scheme  was  craftily  laid  and 
carried  out.  A  harvest  of  $100,000  as  the  returns  for  a  dar- 
ing exploitation  of  the  credit  system  will  be  regarded,  even  by 
the  gilt-edged  among  the  robbing  fraternity,  as  a  fine  stroke 
of  craftsmanship.  The  ingenuity  of  those  cormorants  calls 
for  constant  readjustment  of  honest  persons  to  the  conditions 


GRAFT  NATION'S  WOKST  FOE  08 

created.  The  lesson  of  the  so-called  bargain-house  fraud  will 
be  conned,  and  for  a  long  time  to  come  it  may  be  practically 
impossible  for  the  same  scheme  to  be  worked  again.  But  the 
feature  of  such  enterprises  is  that  they  are  designed  only  for 
the  one  operation.  After  that  they  become  worthless  to  their 
originators. 

Religious  Graft  Pays. 

"Fake"'  religion  as  a  business  may  have  a  fanciful  sound, 
but  there  are  plenty  of  men,  and  women,  too,  in  this  day  and 
age  who  have  found  it  to  be  an  extremely  practical,  well- 
paying  proposition.  The  readiness  with  which  a  good  share 
of  the  people  are  always  anxious  to  receive  any  new  religion, 
or  an  old  religion  revamped  in  new  fashion,  makes  the  road 
of  the  charlatan  whose  trade  is  the  promulgation  of  a  fake 
religion  one  strewn  with  roses  and  money.  Women  are  prin- 
cipally his  victims,  although  there  are  plenty  of  men  with  a 
penchant  for  adopting  strange  religions,  and  from  them  the 
faker  manages  to  reap  a  harvest  that  makes  the  pay  of  the 
■  average  minister  look  like  the  earnings  of  an  office  boy.  While 
the  manner  of  securing  money  through  the  cloak  of  a  false 
new  sect  is  generally  so  hidden  that  the  votaries  of  the  cult 
are  never  aware  of  its  existence  until  after  their  leader  is 
exposed,  the  main  object  is  never  lost  sight  of  by  the  leader, 
and  the  main  object  is  always,  "Get  the  money." 

Out  of  the  great  mass  of  religions  or  new  thought  sects 
started  each  year  in  this  country,  it  is  declared  that  but  ex- 
tremely few  are  started  with  any  idea  other  than  that  of  sepa- 
rating a  lot  of  people  from  their  money.  Occasionally  there 
is  a  man  who  sincerely  believes  that  he  has  discovered  some- 
thing new  and  precious  in  the  way  of  a  religion,  and  estab- 
lishes a  cult  with  the  motive  only  to  help  people  according  to 
his  own  lights.  But  the  mass  of  the  new  religions,  sun  wor- 
shipers, psychists.  Brahmins,    Hindus,    theosophists,    mystics, 


«4  (tHAI-  r    NATION  S   WiHlST    l(>K 

etc.,  are  promoted  with  the  same  object  in  view  as  that  of  the 
(ilfl  nofirro  voodoo  doctors — get   the  money. 

Ftx.\xcial  Yield.s  Are  Large. 

The  financial  yields  of  the  new  religions  are  incomparably 
liigher  than  is  the  voodoo  man's  gain.  His  followers,  win* 
l)flieve  in  black  art  an.d  other  foolish,  old-fashioned  things,  arc 
nearly  always  drawn  from  the  poorer,  even  the  indigent  classes 
-^classes  that  have  but  little  to  spend,  even  on  a  .religion. 
But  the  East  Indian  religionist,  or  the  sun  worshiper,  draws 
his  clientele  from  the  better  classes,  and  his  followers  have 
the  money  to  reward  him  in  a  way  that  is  astounding.  He 
(hibbles  not  with  the  poor — neither,  it  mu.st  be  confessed,  en- 
tirely with  the  ignorant.  His  victims  come  from  the  upper 
walks  of  life,  sometimes  from  near  the  top,  and  their  name 
is  legion. 

There  is  a  Hindu  who  has  now  left  this  country  to  go  back 
to  spend  the  rest  of  his  days  in  luxurious  idleness,  the  while 
chuckling  over  the  gullibility  of  the  smart  American  people, 
who  came  here  with  a  new  religion  and  made  a  fortune. 

This  man  was  an  educated,  cultured  man  of  high  caste. 
Sent  at  an  early  ai;o  to  England  to  attend  school,  he  returned 
to  hi?  native  country  at  the  age  of  28,  wise  in  the  things  of 
two  worlds,  that  of  his  own  and  that  of  the  occidentals.  For 
a  while  he  buried  himself  in  the  native  life  of  a  loathsome 
colony  of  Fakers.  There  he  learned  much  of  their  religious 
style  bv  rote,  and,  putting  this  along  with  a  smattering  of 
Buddhism,  ])sychology  and  sun  wor.ehip,  he  managed  to  ap- 
pear in  America  with  a  new  religion,  fairly  reeking  with  th«' 
essentials  recpiired  by  thos(>  who  want  invsticisni  served  nlou;: 
with    their    religions   belief-. 

MVSTK  IS.\I     DlIAWS    M.wv    CoNVKnTS. 

lie  liad  a  new  god,  a  new  heaven  and  forty  different  and 
distinct  ways  of  torturing  one's  self  while  worshiping  his  deity. 


GRAFT  XATIOX-S  WOHST   FOK  65 

Mortifyinfc  the  flef;li  tln-o\igh  fasting  and  solf-donial,  tortnrinjr 
(tno's  self  by  standing  with  the  hands  above  the  head,  etc.,  all 
wore  included  in  the  new  creed,  besides  such  things  as  astral 
bodie-i  and  the  other  things  that  go  with  a  new  religion.  Ho 
first  held  forth  in  a  sumptuously  furnished  city  fiat,  whore  ho 
managed  to  draw  to  him  a  small  gathering  of  the  select  who 
love  to  dabble  in  mysterious  oriental  affairs. 

The  flat  was  a  dream  in  itself,  and  when  to  it  was  added  a 
tall,  ascetic  young  Hindu,  with  the  look  of  the  fanatic  burning 
brightly  in  his  eyes,  and  mystic  rites  of  a  religious  nature,  the 
effect  was  irresistible;  at  least  it  proved  to  be  to  those  fore- 
gathered under  the  tutelage  of  the  young  oriental.  There 
wore  incense  burnings  and  incantations  galore.  At  first  these 
things  did  not  cost  anything.  No.  The  young  mystic  was 
simply  working  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  world,  working 
to  spread  light  into  tlie  stygian  darkness  of  the  old  and  false 
dogmas  and  creeds. 

After  those  who  flocked  to  his  standard  had  been  so  thor- 
oughly imbued  with  the  sincerity  of  his  teachings  that  his 
word  was  law  to  them,  the  money  question  came  to  the  fore. 
He,  the  missionary,  Avanted  nothing  for  himself — oh,  no.  But 
there  was  need  for  funds  for  the  establishment  of  the  cult  in 
India.  A  school  and  home  must  be  founded  for  the  young  dev- 
otees of  the  new  religion  in  that  countr}^  a  place  where  they 
could  go  and  live  and  be  trained  in  the  tenets  of  the  creed 
and  prepared  to  go  out  in  the  world  and  teach.  And  it  was 
for  this  that  the  Hindu  had  come  to  this  country,  to  permit  the 
chosen  ones  here  to  acquirement  with  the  new  deity  by  sub- 
scribing to  the  school  fund. 

Since  the  beginning  of  things,  when  man  first  beheld  tlie 
sun  and  bowed  humbly  before  it,  it  has  been  the  custom  to 
heap  offerings  on  the  altar  of  worship.  So  the  Hindu  went 
back  with  funds  enough  to  start  half  a  dozen  schools 
if  ho  had  boon  at  all  inclined  that  wav,  which  he  wasn't,  and 


06  GEAFT  XATIOX'S  WOKST  FOE 

the  people  who  were  his  followers  are  still  living  in  the  hope 
that  he  will  return. 

American  Faker  Gets  the  Coin-, 

Then  there  is  another  kind  of  charlatan,  the  American  fake 
religionist,  of  which,  perhaps,  there  are  just  as  many  as  of 
the  foreigners  with  the  weird  doctrines  of  the  orient.  This 
type  of  faker  is  coarse  compared  with  the  soft-shod,  incense- 
burning  Hindu,  but  he  "gets  the  money"  without  much  trouble. 
He  is  generally  a  ranter  as  far  as  preaching  goes.  His  methods 
are  those  of  the  shouter,  his  religion  includes  visitation  of 
spirits,  shaking  of  bodies  and  other  manifestations  of  divine 
power.  He  boldly  asks  for  contributions,  not  for  a  school  to 
be  established  for  the  training  of  missionaries  for  his  faith,  but 
for  the  furtherance  of  his  own  work  right  here  in  this  country. 

"It  takes  money  to  fight  the  devil,"  is  a  favorite  cry  with 
this  type  of  sacrilegist.  The  stronghold  of  the  religious  faker 
is  that  the  people  who  follow  him  believe  in  him  implicitly. 
One  faker  recently  proclaimed  himself  the  son  of  God,  come 
to  revisit  earth,  and,  when  assailed  by  a  paper  for  it,  stood 
up  in  an  audience  of  his  believers  and  asked  them  who  they 
thought  him  to  be  and  how  they  regarded  him.  The  answer 
was  that  he  was  the  son  of  God,  and  his  mission  was  to  save  all 
mankind  from  sin.  It  is  obvious  that,  when  a  man  with  such 
a  hold  on  a  clique  asks  for  money,  it  is  sure  to  be  forthcoming 
without  question.  At  times  he  does  not  have  to  ask  for  it,  one 
man  of  this  kind  having  had  money  showered  upon  him  at  a 
meeting  by  the  hysterical  women   of  his  flock. 

Faith  in  Charlatan  Strong. 

This  man  has  operated  in  at  least  four  sections  of  this 
country,  has  served  a  term  in  state's  prison  for  alienating  a 
wife's  affections  along  with  the  husband's  money,  has  been 
driven  out  of  two  towns  by  angry  husbands;  but  now  he  is 
again   in   possession  of  a   following  which  believes  implicitly 


GBAFT  NATION'S  WOEST  FOK 


67 


^     * 


tlO^MHftflf 


Two  minds  with  but  a  single  thought; 
Two  heads  that  beat  us  all. 


68  GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE 

that  through  him,  and  througli  him  only,  is  it  possible  to 
obtain  eternal  salvation. 

In  appearance  this  man  is  a  liuman  shark,  long-faced,  thin 
of  jaw  and  nose,  and  with  a  mouth  that  is  nothing  but  a 
straight  line  cut  in  the  face.  In  repose  he  might  be  taken 
for  a  shyster  lawyer,  but  when  he  begins  to  speak  and  the  ar- 
tificial frenzy  is  burning  in  him  it  is  easy  enough  to  see  why 
impressionable  women  may  be  drawn  to  him.  Even  a  strong- 
willed  man,  observing  his  actions  and  the  degree  of  enthusiasm 
in  him,  is  apt  to  feel  that  he  can  be  nothing  other  than  sin- 
cere in  his  beliefs.  But,  if  he  is  sincere,  his  sincerity  runs 
only  towards  making  of  his  beliefs  a  good  business  proposition, 
and  avarice  is  one  of  his  strongest  points. 

The  persistency  with  which  women  will  take  up  and  prac- 
tice the  cruelest  of  religious  customs  is  evidenced  by  the  man- 
ner in  which  a  Chicago  girl  tortured  and  starved  herself  to 
death  in  an  effort  to  obtain  salvation  through  the  mortification 
of  the  flesh.  She  was  not  of  an  ignorant  type,  either,  as  might 
be  imagined,  but  fairly  well  educated  and  extremely  intelli- 
gent, with  running  to  intellectuality.  But  the  thrall  of  a  new 
religion  got  her  in  its  power,  and,  believing  she  was  sinful,  she 
strove  to  cast  out  her  sins  and  died  in  the  attempt. 

It  is  seldom  that  pernicious  practices  of  religion  fakers 
carry  persons  to  this  extreme,  but  deranged  mentalities, 
wrecked  homes  and  depleted  pocketbooks  are  of  such  frequent 
occurrence  as  to  merit  a  wholesale  crusade  against  this  t}'pe 
of  fraud,  even  without  raising  the  question  of  religious 
scruples. 

Pawn  Tickfts  on  DiA:^ioxns. 

•Vnother  instance:  Some  working  man  or  washing  woman, 
having  saved  up  a  little  money  for  a  rainy  day,  reads  an 
alluring  advertisement  in  a  newspaper  that  a  party  was  look- 
ing for  a  small  loan  on  valuable  family  jewelry  and  diamonds 
The  interest  offered  is  much  hi£:her  than  that  allowed  bv  anv 


GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE  69 

savings  bank.  Diamonds,  as  everybody  knows,  are  just  as 
good  as  money  and  offer  perfect  security.  In  hopes  of  profit- 
ing a  little  more  on  their  savings,  such  prospective  victims 
respond  to  the  advertisement.  The  party  looking  for  the  loan 
appears  to  be  a  well-dressed,  smoothly-talking  man,  who  rep- 
resents himself  to  be  the  scion  of  a  wealthy  or  aristocratic 
family  temporarily  in  hard  luck.  He  produces  a  pawn  shop 
ticket,  on  the  face  of  which  appears  that  some  pawn  broker 
had  advanced  on  certain  diamonds  a  large  sum  of  money,  say 
$500. 

Now,  it  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  pawn  brokers 
know  their  business,  and  that  no  pawn  broker  would  advance 
more  than  one-third,  or,  at  the  highest,  one-half  of  the  actual 
value  of  the  articles  pledged.  It  is  that  common  belief  which 
the  swindler  makes,  as  it  were,  the  psychic  basis  for  his  opera- 
tions. The  victim  having  once  jumped  at  the  conclusion  that 
the  diamonds  offered  as  security  must  be  worth  at  least  $1,000 
or  thereabouts,  the  rest  becomes  easy. 

Victim  Anxious  foe  Interest. 

The  victim  naturally  considers  a  further  loan  on  such  dia- 
monds of  $200  or  $250  a  desirable  risk.  The  offer  of  10  per 
cent  or  more  interest  on  the  loan  is  another  allurement  which 
makes  the  transaction  still  more  desirable.  The  pawn,  broker 
recognizes  his  ticket,  and  the  diamonds,  when  redeemed,  turn 
out  to  be  worth  considerably  less  than  the  amount  which  the 
broker  was  supposed  to  have  advanced  on  them.  The  victim 
loses  some  more  by  redeeming  the  diamonds. 

Complaints  by  such  victims  have  been  coming  thick  and 
fast  into  the  state's  attorney's  office  in  Chicago  and  other 
large  cities.  The  conspiracy  between  the  swindler  and  his 
accomplice,  the  pawn  broker,  is  almost  self-evident.  In  some 
instances  indictments  have  been  returned  against  the  perpe- 
trators of  the  fraud,  but  the  prosecution  could  not  succeed. 
The  reasoii  is  obvious.    On  the  face  of  the  transaction  every- 


yo  GRAFT  NATION'IS  WORST  FOE 

thing  seemed  to  be  regular,  and  the  defendants  could  not  be 
made  criminally  responsible  for  an  erroneous  conclusion  ar- 
rived at  by  the  victims  as  to  the  business  sagacity  of  the 
pawn  broker  or  the  probable  value  of  the  diamonds.  And 
yet  who  would  doubt,  in  view  of  the  many  identical  complaints. 
•  that  the  plans  in  connection  with  the  fraudulent  transaction 
had  been  laid  carefully  in  pursuance  of  a  conspiracy  to  de- 
fraud the  public? 

New  Law  Badly  Needed. 

On  the  civil  side  of  legal  practice  there  is  the  writ  of  in- 
junction to  prevent  threatened  irreparable  injury  to  property 
by  one  person  to  another.  But  in  case  of  organized  fraud 
upon  the  public  in  general  our  modern  legislatures  have  not 
yet  grown  to  the  proper  appreciation  of  the  wise  and  ancient 
saying  that  comes  from  the  orient,  "The  rat  hole,  not  the  rat, 
is  the  thief."  Our  laws  punish  the  thief  when  caught,  but 
leave  the  "hole"  intact  and  ready  to  give  shelter  to  other 
"rats." 

The  authorities  may  know  well  the  fraudulent  eharacter  of 
a  concern  organized  and  existing  for  the  express  purpose  of 
fleecing  the  public,  and  yet,  in  'the  absence  of  a  complaining 
victim,  they  are  absolutely  helpless  and  unable  to  prevent 
victims  from  being  ensnared  by  that  concern. 

Suppose  the  legislature  would  enact  a  law  making  it  a  felony 
for  persons  to  set  in  operation  any  scheme  to  defraud  the  public 
and  fix  adequate  punishment  for  such  offense,  would  not  such 
a  law  enable  the  authorities  to  anticipate  and  prevent  a  great 
deal  of  that  misery  which  is  caused  by  organized  frauds  of 
all  kinds  and  descriptions,  ia  a  elass  of  people  that  lea<t  ean 
afford  it? 

PosT.voE  Stamp  CIuaitki;. 

The  postage  stamj)  ^nafter  is  one  of  the  most  pestiferous  of 
tlie  "toucher"  genus.      He  bobs  up  in  olliees,  ou  the  streets, 


GRAFT  NATIONS  WORST  FOE  71 

in  hotel  lobbies,  everywhere  and  at  all  times.  Here  is  the 
song  he  sings: 

"I'm  broke,  mister,  but  I  don't  want  any  money.  I  am 
looking  for  work  and  have  .just  answered  an  ad.  in  the  paper, 
1)ut,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  have  only  got  a  nickel,  and  if  I  break 
that  to  buy  a  postage  stamp  I  can't  get  a  cup  of  coffee.  Just 
a  2-cent  stamp  is  all  I  ask." 

It  is  too  small-  a  request  to  refuse,  and  besides  there  is  a 
cliance  that  the  fellow  may  be  telling  the  trutli.  Anyway, 
it  is  only  a  stamp.  You  produce  the  stamp,  and  may  give 
the  "toucher"  several  stamps  so  that  he  can  answer  more  ad- 
vertisements for  work.  A  half  day  of  industry  at  this  scheme 
gives  any  competent  "toucher"  enough  stamps  to  buy  a  little 
food,  a  good  deal  of  drink  and  a  night's  lodging.  There  is 
no  difficulty  in  disposing  of  stamps  thus  collected,  for  the 
salonkeepers  and  others  that  buy  them — sometimes  at  a  dis- 
count— know  they  have  been  given,  and  not  stolen. 

"You  are  the  third  man  that  has  tadclod  me  for  a  stamp 
today,"  said  a  man  in  the  lobby  of  a  do-wmtown  hotel  recently 
to  a  young  man  who  "wanted  to  answer  an  advertisement  for 
work."     "Here,  give  me  the  letter;  I'll  stamp  and  mail  it." 

Whereupon,  to  use  the  vernacular  of  his  kind,  the  young  man 
made  a  sensational  "getaway"  via  the  side  entrance. 

Akin  to  the  postage  stamp  scheme  is  the  one  of  "touching" 
for  three  or  some  other  odd  number  of  pennies  to  make  up  the 
amount  necessary  "to  send  a  telegram  home  for  money."  The 
"toucher"  in  this  case  usually  admits  frankly  that  he  came 
to  Chicago  and  got  drunk,  spending  all  his  money.  For  victims 
he  picks  the  men  that  look  like  they  might  sympathize  with 
a  fellow  in  his  predicament. 

The  Clerk  Grafter. 

It  may  or  may  not  be  so  that  a  sucker  is  born  every  minute. 
Doubt  as  to  the  exactness  of  this  has  been  expressed,  the  con- 
sensus of  opinion  being  that  the  average  runs  higher   than 


72  GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE 

Barnum's  estimate.  But  as  to  the  natural  increase  of  devious 
and  various  ways  for  making,  or  trying  to  make,  suckers  out 
of  the  world's  inhabitants  there  can  be  little  or  no  just  doubt. 
A  new  one  is  bom  every  time  the  old  one  gets  stale.  Here 
is  the  latest: 

The  scene  of  operation,  which  is  guaranteed  to  be  harmless 
when  performed,  but  sure  to  be  painful  when  the  reaction  sets 
in,  is  a  small  office,  store,  or  shop,  any  place  where  the  total 
number  of  employees  is  small. 

Preferably  it  is  a  place  where  a  young  woman  stenographer, 
clerk,  or  other  worker  is  employed,  and,  preferably,  the  stenog- 
rapher, clerk,  etc.,  is  of  pleasing  and  attractive  appearance. 
The  more  so  the  better,  though  this  is  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary. 

Plays  on  Tardy  Victim. 

In  fact,  the  only  condition  actually  necessary  to  the  suc- 
cessful prosecution  of  this  new  game  is  that  one  of  the  em- 
ployees come  down  to  work  later  than  others.  This  must  be. 
The  operator  picks  a  morning  when  said  employee  is  lato 
in  arriving  at  his  or  her  place  of  employment.  If  the  em- 
ploj'ce  is  a  young  woman  stenographer,  so  much  the  better. 
Operator  may  be  either  male  or  female,  but  should  be  of  pros- 
perous appearance — sort  of  money-no-object  appearance. 

"Is  the  Stool  Pigeon  in  ?"  he  inquires.  Of  course,  he  doesn't 
call  this  party  "the  Stool  Pigeon,"  having  first  carefully  in- 
formed himself  as  to  the  individual's  Christian  name  and  sur- 
name, so  as  to  be  in  a  position  to  rattle  it  off  with  becoming 
familiarity.  • 

"Not  yet,  but  soon,"  replies  the  Fall  Guy.  He  doesn't  know 
that  he's  the  Fall  Guy,  but  he  is,  unless  he  happens  to  pos- 
sess more  than  a  human  average  of  suspicion  and  wariness. 

Fall  Guy  Takes  Bait. 
"Oh,  I'm  80  sorry!     Now,  I  wouldn't  have  come  to  deliver 


GKAFT  NATION  S  WOKfc>T  FOE  73 

this  package  if  he  hadn't  promised  to  be  here  at  this  moment. 
And  he  wanted  it  so  badly — and  I  can't  wait!" 

"That's  too  bad,"  says  Mr.  Fall  Guy.  "But  that's  all  right; 
you  may  leave  the  package  in  my  care  and  I'll  see  that  he  gets 
it  the  first  thing  he  comes  down." 

"So  kind  of  you,"  purrs  the  operator.  "The  only  difficulty 
in  the  way  of  that  is  that  I  must  see  him  when  I  deliver 
it." 

Nothing  coarse  or  abrupt,  you  will  see;  instead  the  smooth, 
purring  round  of  the  wheels  that  grind  artistically  and  well. 

Here  the  operator  begins  to  bite  the  under  lip  and  look  at 
the  clock  with  clouded  brows. 

"Hm!  I  can't  wait,  and  he  wanted  it  so  much  this  morn- 
ing!" 

Sucker  Digs  Out  Coix. 

Fall  Guy  being  a  friend  of  Stool  Pigeon's  (the  operator  has 
picked  him  because  of  that  qualification),  gets  solicitous. 
"Well,  there's  a  collection  of  a  dollar  on  this  package;  that  is 
all,  really."  If  Fall  Guy  looks  burdened  vnth  money  the 
charge  may  be  as  high  as  $2.50,  Hardly  more  than  this.  It 
may  run  as  low  as  25  cents.  The  package  contains,  according 
to  the  operator,  anything  from  a  pair  of  cuff  buttons  to  a 
pair  of  shoes. 

And  Fall  Guy  pays  at  least  often  enough  to  make  the  game 
worth  playing  for  the  operator. 

FLEECING  INVALIDS   AND   CRIPPLES. 

This  is  a  story  of  the  most  despicable  graft  extant.  For, 
although  it  has  been  broken 'up  in  Chicago,  it  still  flourishes 
in  nearly  every  other  large  city  in  the  country.  It  is  not  only 
despicable  but  it  is  heinous,  fiendish,  unspeakable.  It  is  the 
sort  of  a  thing  that  causes  the  blood  of  an  honest  man  or  of 
a  manly  rogue  to  boil,  and  long  for  a  chance  to  clutch  its  in-, 
ventor  by  the  throat.     It  is  the  letter-copying  scheme.     Eeal 


74 


GRAFT  XATIOX'S  WORST  FOE 


AN  ATTEMPT  TO  CATCH  YOUR  EYE 


criminals  take  chances  on  death  or  the  penitentiary,  and  on 
personal  encounters  with  those  whose  money  they  unlawfully 
seek  to  acquire,  but  the  vultures  behind  the  "ads."  promising 
lucrative  work  at  home  content  themselves  with  mulcting 
helpless  invalids,  aged  and  infirm  persons  who  seek  to  con- 
tribute to  their  own  support  and  persons  whom  poverty  has 


GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE  75 

driven  to  desperation,  and  who  see  in  the  gilded  promises  of 
the  cormorant  an  avenue  of  escape. 

The  public  is  familiar  with  the  advertisements  which  con- 
stantl)''  are  seen  in  the  newspapers  offering  employment  that 
will  not  necessitate  canvassing,  or  peddling,  and  which  can  be 
done  in  the  homo  with  great  profit.  Occasionally  the  "ads."' 
explain  that  the  work  is  that  of  copying  letters. 

Write  Smooth  Letters. 

The  victim  answers  the  "ad."  and  in  reply  receives  this 
stereotyped  letter — the  form  is  the  same  in  every  instance: 

Esteemed  Feieni\: 

Replying  to  your  application  to  write  letters  for  us  at  your 
home  during  spare  time,  we  beg  to  say  that  your  writing  is 
satisfactory,  and  we  have  decided  to  offer  you  the  appointment. 

The  work  we  give  out  is  simply  writing  letters  from  a  copy 
which  we  furnish,  for  which  we  pay  you  direct  from  this  office 
at  the  rate  of  twenty  dollars  ($20.00)  per  thousand.  You  do 
not  have  to  write  any  certain  number  of  letters  before  receiv- 
ing pay.  and  all  letters  you  write  you  return  to  us.  There  is 
no  mailing  them  to  your  friends,  as  most  other  advertisers  who 
advertise  for  letter  Avriters  demand,  neither  is  there  any  can- 
vassing or  selling  anything,  or  anything  else  to  mislead  you  ; 
you  simply  write  from  a  copy  which  we  furnish,  and  we  pay 
you  direct.  We  are  an  old,  reliable  firm,  always  state  plainly 
what  is  required,  do  exactly  as  we  promise  and  treat  our  em- 
ployes  honestly. 

The  work  is  easy ;  the  letters  to  be  written  are  the  lengjth  of 
the  ordinary  business  letter,  and  all  we  require  is  neatness  and 
correctness.  We  furnish  all  materials  free  of  charge,  paper, 
etc.,  and  prepay  all  costs  of  delivery  to  your  home.  You  work 
only  when  you  desire  or  have  leisure  time,  and  no  one  need 
know   you    are    doing    the    work.  ' 

We  pay  spot  cash  for  all  work  done  the  same  day  as  re- 
ceived. We  use  thousands  of  these  letters  for  advertising  our 
business,  because  we  receive  better  results  from  using  written 
letters  than  from  plain  printed  circulars.  We  have  a  large 
number  of  people  all  over  the  country  working  for  us,  and 
if  you  desire  to  become  one  of  our  regular  workers  we  request 
that  you  send  us  one  dollar,  for  which  we  will  send  you  our 
regular  dollar  package  of  goods  you  are  to  write  about. 

This  is  all  you  are  required  to  invest,  there  being  no  other 
payments  at  any  further  time,  and  this  deposit  is  returned  to 
you  after  doing  work  to  the  amount  of  two  thousand  letters. 
We  are  compelled  to  ask  for  this  small  deposit  to  protect  our- 
selves against  unscrupulous  persons  who  do  not  mean  to  work 
and  who  apply  out  of  idle  curiosity. 

We  also  send  you  first  trial  lot  of  letter  paper,  copy  of  letter 
to  be  written  (as  we  desire  all  letters  to  be  written  on  our  own 
letter  paper),  also  instructions  and  all  necessary  information. 
After  receiving  the  outfit  you  start  to  work  immediately.    More 


?0  GRAFT  XATiOiN\S  WORST  FOK 

reliable  ivorkcrs  arc  needed  at  once,  and  we  guarantee  every- 
thing to  be  exactly  as  represented.  If  you  find  anything 
different    we    will    refund    the    amount    invested. 

Fill  out  the  enclosed  blank  and  send  it  to  us  with  one  dollar 
or  express  or  postoffice  money  order  (stamps  accepted),  and 
we  will  immediately  send  everything,  all  expenses  prepaid. 
You  can  start  to  work  the  same  day  you  receive  the  outfit  by 
simply    following   our    plain   instructions. 

Kindly  reply  at  your  earliest  convenience.     Fill  out  enclosed 
blank    and    direct    your    envelope    carefully.      Trusting    to    be 
favored   with  your  prompt  services,  we  remain. 
Very    truly   yours. 
Leslie  Novelty  Company, 
Per  C.  C.  Kendali^. 

Rob  Bed-Ridden  Women. 

Tn  their  investigation  of  this  sort  of  swindle  the  police  dis- 
eovered  that  almost  invariably  the  victims  were  bed-ridden 
persons  or  women  in  straitened  circumstances  who  were  in 
frantic  search  of  some  means  of  keeping  the  wolf  from  the 
door.  Many  instances  were  found  where  some  unfortunate  had 
taken  up  a  collection  in  the  neighborhood  in  order  to  raise 
the  necessary  dollar  to  send  for  the  "outfit."  Persons  were 
found  who  were  actually  starving  and  who  had  pawned  their 
last  possession  to  get  the  money  that  was  to  start  them  on 
the  road  to  affluence. 

Of  all  the  ofiices  raided  Detective  Wooldridge  did  not  find 
record  of  one  instance  where  a  victim  had  been  able  to  keep 
the  requirements  of  the  swindlers.  The  supposed  letter  sent 
to  be  copied  was  generally  about  800  words  in  length,  full  of 
words  difficult  to  spell,  of  rude  and  complicated  rhetorical  con- 
struction and  punctuated  in  a  most  eccentric  manner.  The 
task  imposed  was  practically  a  life-time  job,  and  even  if  anyone 
had  fulfilled  it  there  were  a  hundred  loopholes  whereby  the 
thieves  could  escape  payment  by  declaring  their  specifications 
had  not  been  heeded  to  the  letter. 

The  "outfit"  consisted  of  a  cheap  penholder,  a  pen  and  a 
box  of  fake  pills. 

Imagine  the  joyous  anticipation  with  which  a  starving  crip- 
ple would  await  the  arrival  of  the  "outfit"  that  was  to  give 
him  the  opportunitv  of  prolonging    existence!      The    bright 


GRAFT  KATION^S  WORST  FOE  t7 

hopes  of  the  work-worn  widow  who  expected  by  this  genteel 
means  to  keep  her  little  ones  in  bread! 

Think  of  the  despair  of  both  upon  discovering  they  had 
paid  out  money  so  sadly  needed — money  which  probably  had 
been  begged  or  borrowed — only  to  discover  that  they  had  been 
victimized  instead  of  benefited! 

"Operators"  Cringing  Cowards. 

Trembling,  cringing,  whining  specimens  of  humanity  were 
found  in  charge  of  each  of  these  fakers'  dens  when  Detective 
Wooldridge  swooped  down  upon  them.  They  were  typical  of 
their  graft — small,  mean,  snake-like,  cowardly.  None  among 
them  was  found  who  would  bid  defiance  to  the  officers,  who 
would  resist  intrusion  by  the  law  or  who  would  go  into  court 
and  fight.  All  were  cheap  and  dirty  in  mind,  loathsome, 
shrinking,  snarling,  but  not  daring  to  bite. 

Among  those  driven  out  of  business  by  Detective  Wooldridge 
were  the  Twain  Novelty  Company,  the  Leslie  Novelty  Company, 
the  Illinois  Industrial  Company  and  Blackney  &  Company. 

"I  have  raided  all  classes  of  swindling  institutions,"  said 
Wooldridge,  "but  it  gave  me  more  pleasure  to  run  down  these 
fellows  than  all  the  others  put  together.  They  did  not  dare 
try  to  get  money  out  of  people  who  could  afford  to  lose  it,  or 
who  were  out  in  the  world  where  they  could  talk  with  others 
of  more  experience.  Their  dupes  were  in  almost  ever)''  in- 
stance the  most  pitiable  objects  of  the  communities  in  which 
they  lived.  The  facts  disclosed  by  these  raids  were  enough  to 
fill  the  heart  of  the  blackest  grafter  with  indignation  and  a 
desire  to  trounce  the  perpetrators." 

SHARKS  RUIN  BUSINESS  MEN. 

New  Line  of  Financial  Graft, 
A  new  loan  shark,  or  self-styled  "financial  agent,"  who  preys 
on  the  business  man  and  manufacturer,  robbing  him  of  his 


GKAFT   NATIONS   WOKST   KoK 


money  and  b\i.*iness  more  relentlessly  than  the  old-time  loan 
shark  ever  dared  with  the  helpless  wage  earner,  has  made  his 
appearance  in  Chicago  and  says  he  has  come  to  stay. 

Under  the  guise  of  discounting  a  manufacturer's  accounts 
at  his  usual  rate  of  discount,  the  "financial  agent"  secures 
his  first  hold  on  the  struggling  manufacturer,  who  sees  the 
opportunity  to  enlarge  his  business  by  collecting  cash  for  his 


GlIAFT  .NATION'S  WOKST   FOE  79 

merchandise  as  he  sells  it.  But  the  first  step  with  the  "finan- 
cial agent"  means  entering  the  portals  of  bankruptcy. 

The  loan  shark  first  finds  for  his  victim  an  industrious,  hard- 
working manufactiu-er  or  wholesaler,  who  by  his  push  and  per- 
severance has  built  a  business  beyond  his  capital,  and  approaches 
liim. 

"You  have  a  good  business  here,"  remarks  the  agent.  "If 
your  customers  all  paid  cash  it  would  be  pretty  easy  sailing. 
Life  would  be  one  long,  sweet  song  if  everyone  paid  for  goods 
cis  soon  as  they  were  ordered,  wouldn't  it?" 

Offer  of  Cash  Arouses  Interest. 

Even  the  largest  manufacturer  in  the  country  could  not  but 
accede  to  this. 

"T  have  been  watching  your  business  for  some  time  with  a 
great  deal  of  interest,"  continues  the  suave  grafter,  "and  I 
would  be  glad  to  discount  your  bills  at  the  regular  rate  of  dis- 
count, so  it  would  cost  you  nothing  and  you  would  have  an 
opportunity  to  double  your  business. 

"I  presume  you  give  the  regular  trade  discount  of  1  per 
tent  a  month  for  cash.  On  that  I  can  save  you  a  little  money 
and  help  your  credit  materially.  You  receive  1  per  cent  a 
month  on  your  purchases. 

"This  you  cannot  take,  as  you  are  cramped  for  money,  be- 
cause your  customers  do  not  pay  their  bills  promptly.  Thus 
you  lose  2  per  cent  a  month  by  not  buying  and  selling  for 
cash/'  . 

Okt«  $S00  for  $1,000. 

The  manufacturer  begins  to  see  a  thriving  business  on  a 
cash  basis  without  exposing  his  weakness,  and  agi'ees  to  allow 
the  banker  to  discount  his  bills. 

"In  the  morning,"  begins  the  agent  in  explanation  of  his 
system,  "you  send  us  $1,000  worth  of  duplicate  invoices  of 
the   goods  which  you   shipped  today,   with   shipping  bills  at- 


80  GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE 

tached.  You  attach  to  the  invoices  a  note  for  $1,000,  so  the 
account  may  be  kept  from  the,  notes,  and  not  from  the  invoices 
which  we  hold.  In  return  for  the  note  we  '\nll  send  you  a 
check  for  $800,  less  our  commission  of  2  per  cent  a  month, 
just  what  you  are  pa3'ing  now  because  your  business  is  not 
done  on  a  cash  basis.  The  $200,  or  20  per  cent,  we  have  to 
deposit  in  the  bank  which  loans  us  the  money  which  wc  in 
turn  pass  to  you.  When  any  bills  are  paid  we  will  refund 
your  20  per  cent  which  we  hold.  Any  bank  compels  us  to 
have  a  representative  in  your  store  to  look  after  our  interests, 
as  a  matter  of  form.  We  will  just  appoint  your  bookkeeper — 
a  matter  of  form  entirel}'.  Once  a  month  we  will  send  a  man 
over  to  cheek  up  your  books.  He  will  see  that  none  of  our 
money  has  been  overlooked." 

Begins  to  Show  His  Teeth. 

All  this  sounds  businesslike  and  plausible,  and  the  arrange- 
ment runs  smoothly  for  a  time,  probably  six  months,  to  allow 
the  manufacturer  time  to  sell  all  his  open  accounts  to  the 
financial  agent.  Then  the  loan  shark  sends  in  a  statement  of 
the  account,  and,  if  the  manufacturer  complains,  begins  to  show 
his  teeth. 

On  the  statement  appears  all  money  the  manufacturer  has 
received  and  in  addition  an  extra  charge  for  $50  a  month  to 
cover  the  services  of  their  agent — the  manufacturer's  own 
bookkeeper.  Also  an  additional  charge  of  from  1  to  3  per 
cent  for  additional  ser\-ice  rendered,  although  the  agency  has 
had  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  the  accounts  beyond  holding 
fhem  as  security.  All  overdue  accounts  are  charged  back  to 
the  manufacturer,  and  a  request  for  a  check  to  take  them  up 
immediately  accompanies  the  statement. 

As  few  accounts,  if  allowed  to  mature  at  all,  are  received  by 
a  manufacturer  on  the  exact  day  when  due,  tlic  cheek  called 
for  often  is  a  formidable  one.  The  manufacturer  is  at  his 
wits'  end.     He  goes  to  the  agency  post  haste  and.  after  they 


GKAFT  NAT10.\'«  WOKciT  FUE 


81 


82  GRAFT  NATIONS  WORST  FOE 

find  it  is  impossible  to  hold  him  up  for  a  check,  they  say: 

"Oh,  well,  never  mind,  the  bank — always  the  bank — is  press- 
ing us  on  those  overdue  accounts,  but  we  can  hold  up  the  20 
per  cent  until  these  accounts  are  taken  care  of.  That  will 
be  satisfactory,  we  are  sure." 

Loses  His  W  Per  Cent. 

After  this  the  manufacturer's  chance  of  ever  seeing  anything 
more  of  his  20  per  cent  has  vanished.  Each  day  the  agency 
trumps  up  some  fictitious  charge  of  stamps,  new  check  books, 
extra  labor,  taxes,  additional  fees  or  other  charges  that  could 
originate  nowhere  but  in  the  brain  of  a  financial  crook. 

Finally  the  manufacturer  finds  he  has  nothing  on  his  books 
but  accounts  belonging  to  the  agency,  on  which  he  is  paying 
carrying  charges  of  from  5  to  "10  per  cent  a  month.  The 
agency  refuses  to  return  his  20  per  cent,  which  they  claim 
has  been  charged  off  by  the  bank  to  take  care  of  the  overdue 
accounts. 

The  victim,  seeing  the  plight  in  which  lie  is  placed,  demands 
an  accounting  and  threatens  legal  proceedings.  The  agency 
in  turn  demands  he  give  them  an  itemized  statement  of  each 
Account,  which  they  have.  They  agree  to  check  them  up,  and, 
if  found  correct,  promise  to  give  him  a  check  for  the  20  per 
cent  which  they  hold.  That  night  the  light  burns  late  over 
(he  bookkeeper's  desk  in  tlie  manufacturer's  oflice.  In  \hv 
morning  the  statements  go  to  the  office  of  the  loan  shark,  who 
says : 

"I'll  have  the  auditor  clieck  them  up  and  send  you  a  check 
as  soon  as  we  find  out  everything  is  straight." 

Trade  Statements  to  Customer. 

The  manufacturer  leaves  the  office.  The  loan  shark  gets 
busy  with  the  statements,  and  stamps  each  of  them: 

"This  account  has  been  transfen-ed  to  Killem's  Mercantile 
Company.    You  arc  notified  to  pay  this  account  to  no  one  else." 


GIUFT  NATION  S  WUK«T  FOE  83 

These  statements  are  mailed  to  the  customers.  When  the 
manufacturer  returns  the  loan  shark  greets  him  cordially  and 
remarks : 

"Unfortunately  one  of  my  clerks  mailed  out  a  lot  of  your 
statements  last  night,  but  I  guess  that  won't  matter.  He 
stamped  on  them  that  they  had  been  transferred  to  us  and 
sent  them  out  as  he  does  everyone  else's.  He  didn't  imder- 
stand.    I  am  sorry." 

As  expected,  the  manufacturer,  when  he  sees  his  business 
and  confidence  abused  in  this  manner,  flies  into  a  rage.  Then 
the  suave  agent  takes  the  bull  by  the  horns  and  issues  his 
ultimatum. 

"Our  bank" — always  "our  bank" — "thinks  we  are  not  get- 
ting all  the  money  coming  to  us  from  your  account.  They 
demand  that  in  the  future  you  deposit  all  your  checks  with 
us.  I  am  sorry,  for  I  know  everything  is  straight,  but  your 
using  us  as  a  bank  will  last  but  a  few  days.  Everything  will 
then  run  smoothly  again." 

And  unless  some  friend  comes  to  the  aid  of  the  manufac- 
turer the  agency's  prophecy  comes  true,  and  it  does  last  but 
a  little  while. 

SHREWD  BEGGAR  GRAFT. 

Pretend  to  be  Deaf,  Dumb  and  Blind,  Playing  on  Sym- 
pathy— How  Philanthropy  is  Humbugged — Begging  for 
Money  to  Reach  Home — An  Army  of  Frauds  and  Vaga- 
bonds— ^Mastering  the  Deaf  Mute  Language  for  Swin- 
dling Purposes — The  Public  Should  be  Careful  in 
Disbursing  Alms. 

vSpeech  is  so  common,  eyesight  so  precious,  that  he  who 
would  appeal  for  charity  needs  no  better  warrant  than  that  ho 
is  dumb  or  blind.  In  an  age  when  words  are  multiplied  and 
golden  silence  is  seldom  found,  the  very  fact  that  lips  can 


84  GKAFT  NATION'^  WOEST  FOE 

give  no  utterance  is  so  unusual  that  their  mute  assertion  of 
misfortune  is  seldom  questioned.  There  is  nothing  so  pitiful 
in  all  the  world  as  an  asylum  for  the  hlind.  There  is  nothing 
which  so  draws  one  to  share  the  burdens  of  another  as  the  ap- 
peal of  him  in  whom  the  wells  of  speech  are  all  dried  up.  We 
sympathize  with  illness,  we  grieve  at  the  misfortune  which 
visits  our  friends,  we  mourn  with  them  when  bereavement 
comes,  but  all  these  things  are  in  the  course  of  nature.  They 
are  sad,  but  they  may  be  expected.  But  then  a  figure  in  health 
rises  and  asks  for  charity  in  the  hushed  language  of  the  mute, 
philanthropy  halts  and  humanity  gives  alms.  But  if  the  dumb 
can  evoke  assistance,  assuring  of  sincerity  and  disarming  doubt, 
how  hushed  is  the  questioning  when  the  blind  apply!  How 
much  stronger  than  speech  or  silence  are  the  sightless  eyes  that 
stare  unblinking  at  a  darkened  world!  How  sad  is  the 
fate  of  that  man  who  was  buried  by  demons  when  God  cried 
out,  "Let  there  be  light"! 

But  not  every  man  is  mute  who  stretches  out  his  hand  in 
silence.  Laziness  is  such  an  awfully  demoralizing  vice  that 
some  who  choose  to  beg  a  living  and  decline  work  arc  even 
base  enough  to  feign  a  misfortune  they  ought  to  fear.  Fellows 
who  find  the  winter  pinching  and  the  ranks  of  vagabonds  full 
to  repletion  arm  themselves  with  a  slate  and  pencil  and  haunt 
the  public  with  appeals  for  help  on  the  untrue  claim  that 
they  are  dumb.  One  of  the  most  persistent  beggars  of  this 
kind  makes  the  rounds  of  residence  districts  with  a  printed 
card  on  which  is  stated  the  bearer's  desire  to  reach  his  home 
in  some  distant  city — the  destination  varies  from  time  to  time — 
together  witli  a  long-primer  endorsement  by  a  group  of  names 
which  no  one  knows.  The  fraud  always  asks  for  some  slight 
money  offering — nothing  can  be  too  small — with  which  to  as- 
siet  him  in  the  purchase  of  a  ticket. 

Usually  his  paper  shows  that  he  needs  but  a  very  little 
more,  and  he  asks  one,  by  a  scries  of  ])antomimic  signs,  to 
enroll  his  name,  together  with  the  sum  advanced,  in  regular 


GliAFT  NATION'S  WOliST  FOE  85 

order  on  a  blank  list  which  he  tenders  with  his  touching  ap- 
peal. He  is  so  well  drilled  as  never  to  be  surprised  into  speech, 
and  looks  with  such  straight,  honest  eyes  into  the  faces  of 
the  women,  who  form  much  the  larger  number  of  his  victims, 
that  they  cannot  question  him  and  usually  give  up  a  dime  or 
a  quarter  without  a  struggle.  The  beggar  can  readily  collect 
a  good  day's  wages  in  this  manner,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  sur- 
prise if  he  does  not  receive  an  invitation  to  partake  of  food 
three  or  four  times  a  day.  He  never  lets  his  list  get  full. 
However  small  a  margin  he  may  lack  of  having  raised  the 
sum  needed  to  buy  his  ticket  to  his  home,  he  never  gets  quite 
enough,  for  nothing  is  easier  than  to  stop  in  some  secluded 
spot  and  erase  the  names  of  his  latest  donors,  thus  proving 
to  those  on  whom  he  shall  presently  call  that  their  help  is 
not  only  needed,  but  will  so  nearly  end  the  necessity  for  con- 
tinued appeals.  This  class  of  beggar  never  looks  like  a  dissi- 
pated man,  is  always  polite,  and  bears  refusal  in  so  noble  a 
way  that  nine  times  out  of  ten  the  flinty-hearted  women  who 
refused  him  at  the  back  door  hurry  through  to  the  front  and 
give  the  more  generously  that  they  have  harbored  suspicion. 

Another  set  of  leeches  have  mastered  the  deaf  mute  language, 
and  always  ask  with  a  pleading,  painful  face  which  meets  you 
as  your  eyes  lift  from  his  written  questions,  if  anyone  in  the 
house  can  talk  with  him.  He  supplements  the  penciled  ques- 
tion and  the  eloquent  glance  of  eyes  trained  by  long  use  in 
the  art  with  a  few  rapid  passes  of  his  hands,  a  few  dexterous 
wavings  of  the  fingers,  in  a  language  you  have  heard  of  and 
read  about,  but  cannot  understand.  If  the  unexpected  hap- 
pens and  a  person  be  present  who  can  converse  wth  him, 
your  beggar  is  sure  of  some  entertainment,  and  the  usual 
scene  of  one  you  know  to  be  honest  talking  to  one  who  may 
be  equally  so,  and  certainly  seems  needy,  will  almost  in- 
fallibly wring  from  you  the  coveted  assistance.  It  is  like  two 
minstrels  at  a  Saxon  court.  You  know  your  oAvn  has  Been 
the  holy  land,  though  you  have  not,  and  as  he  tells  you,  this 


86  CrEAFT  NATION'S  WOKST  IDE 

thread-bare  guest  talks  familiarly  and  correctly  of  distant 
realms.  That  is  all  any  one  can  know  to  a  certainty,  but  you 
give  him  the  benefit  of  the  chance  that  he  may  be  honest,  and 
help  him  with  such  loose  change  as  comes  to  hand.  Time  and 
again  the  pretended  mutes  have  been  detected  in  their  im- 
posture by  men  who  pitied  a  misfortune  and  gave  money  at 
their  homes  in  the  morning  to  sec  it  spent  for  drink  by  an 
arguing,  contentious  fellow  in  the  evening. 
•  Some  beggars  even  assume  the  appearance  of  blindness,  and 
haunt  the  homes  of  comfortable  people,  led  by  a  little  girl  and 
asking  alms  in  the  name  of  an  affliction  that  is  always  elo- 
quent of  need.  He  Mali  sometimes  carry  a  small  basket  full  of 
pencils,  or  other  little  trinkets,  and  glazes  over  his  evident 
beggary  with  the  appearance  of  sales.  But  he  does  not  hesi- 
tate, once  the  money  is  in  his  hands,  to  ask  his  patron  to  give 
back  the  pencils,  as  he  cannot  afford  to  buy  any  more.  These 
people  can  sometimes  see  as  well  as  the  child  that  seems  to 
lead  them,  and  yet  their  eyes,  when  they  choose  to  assume  their 
professional  attitude,  seem  covered  with  a  film  through  which 
no  light  can  penetrate. 

The  public  sliould  be  chary  in  bestowing  charity,  and  es])c- 
cially  to  able-bodied  men  who  appear  blind,  deaf  and  dumb, 
or  are  still  claiming  to  be  victims  of  some  recent  disaster. 
Most  any  one  who  has  charity  to  bestow  can  easily  think  of 
some  deserving  and  honest  unfortunate  in  their  own  neighbor- 
hood. 

rAij.vLVTic  \  Bad  Actok. 

The  most  transparent  fraud  on  the  streets  of  the  great  citie.< 
is  the  pscu(lo-i)aralytic.  At  almost  any  street  corner  can  W 
seen  what  puri)()its  to  he  a  trembling  wreck  of  a  man.  His 
legs  arc  twisted  into  liorribh;  shapes.  The  hand  which  lie 
stretches  forth  for  alms  is  a  mere  claw,  seemingly  twisted  by 
pain  into  all  sorts  of  distorted  shapes,  trembling  and  wavering. 
The  arms  move  back  and  forth  in  ])athetie  twistings  as  if  the 


GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE  8r 

pains  were  shootino-  up  and  down  the  ligaments  with  all  tht> 
force  of  sciatica. 

The  heaH  bobs  from  side  to  side  as  if  it  were  impossible  to 
keep  it  still.  And  the  words  which  come  from  the  half-para- 
lyzed mouth  are  a  mere  mumble  of  inarticulate  sounds,  as  if 
the  tongue,  too,  were  suffering  torture. 

A  more  pitiable  sight  than  this  could  not  be  conjured  up. 
And  the  extended  hat  of  the  victim  of  what  seems  to  be  a 
complication  of  St.  Vitus  dance,  paralysis,  sciatic  rheumatism, 
and  the  delirium  tremens,  is  always  a  ready  receptacle  for 
the  pennies,  nickels  and  dimes  of  the  thoughtless.  This  is  one 
side  of  the  picture;  now  look  on  the  other. 

It  is  dusk.  Jiist  that  time  of  day  when  the  lights  are  not 
yet  brightening  the  streets,  and  wlion  the  sun  has  made  the 
great  tunnels  between  the  sky-scrapers,  ways  of  darkness.  De- 
tective Wooldridge  is  watching.  He  has  been  watching  two  of 
the  deplorable  fraternity  for  two  hours.  As  the  dusk  deepens 
he  sees  them  both  arise,  dart  swiftly  across  the  street  and  board 
a  car.  By  no  mere  chance  is  it  that  they  are  both  on  the  same 
car.  The  detective  follows.  Before  a  low  saloon  on  the  West 
Side  the  victims  of  innumerable  diseases  descend  from  the 
car,  walking  upright  as  six-year  soldiers  on  parade.  They 
enter  the  saloon.  They  seat  themselves  at  a  table  behind  an 
angle  in  the  back  which  conceals  them  from  the  street.  The 
detective  loiters  down  to  the  end  of  the  bar  and  watches.  From 
every  pocket,  even  from  the  hat  rim,  pours  a  pile  of  coins. 

The  two  sort  out  the  quarters,  the  nickels,  the  pennies.  The 
heaps  are  very  evenly  divided  over  two  or  three  cheap  whiskies 
or  a  couple  of  bottles  of  five-cent  beer. 

Then  the  real  finale  comes.  Detective  Wooldridge  gets  busy, 
and  a  goodly  portion  of  the  spoil  finds  its  way  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  sharpers  in  the  way  of  a  fine. 

But  for  every  one  of  these  paralytic  frauds  caught  there  are 
dozens,  even  scores,  who  get  away  unscathed.  It  is  the  esti- 
mate of  the  best  detectives  that  not  one  in  a  thousand  of  these 


88  GJRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  POK 

paralj'tic  beggars  is  genuine.  It  is  one  of  the  most  bare-faced 
oases  of  deception  of  the  public  which  comes  under  the  notice 
of  the  police. 

Easy  Money  From  Kixd  Hearts. 

Charity  covers  a  multitude  of  sins,  almost  as  many  backs, 
;ind  quite  a  bit  of  graft. 

Thoughtless  giving  is  almost  a  crime.  It  serve  to  encourage 
idleness,  and  idleness  is  at  the  bottom  of  more  crime  than  any 
other  one  thing,  unless  it  is  poverty. 

Here  is  a  story,  given  in  the  words  of  the  man  himself,  which 
shows  how  the  charity  graft  is  worked  in  a  number  of  ways. 
It  covers  several  fields,  and  is  so  dramatic  that  it  is  given  as 
the  best  example  of  fdl-round  charity  grafting: 

"In  experience  in  charitable  work  last  summer  I  discov- 
ered some  of  these  truths.  It  was  the  first  time  in  all  my 
life  that  I  ever  engaged  in  any  charitable  enterprise,  and  the 
needy  that  I  sought  to  relieve  was  myself. 

"Any  one  will  beg,  borrow,  or  steal  in  the  name  of  charity. 
They  may  be  as  personally  honest  as  a  trust  magnate — and  they 
would  be  horrified  at  the  idea  of  begging  or  stealing  for  them- 
selves, but  charity  makes  them  respectable.  At  least  this  is 
the  theory  I  worked  on. 

"I  was  broke  and  far  from  home.     I  decided  that  I  would 
starve  or  steal  rather  than  beg.     Then  a  fellow  I  mot   acci- 
dentally put  me  on  to  a  way  of  making  a  living. 
For  the  Benefit  of  the  Heathen. 

"He  had  a  lot  of  literature  either  really  from  a  big  church, 
charitable  organization,  or  fraudulently  printed,  and  he  ex- 
plained to  me  that  I  was  to  soil  those  25  cents  a  copy  for  the 
benefit  of  the  heathen  somewhere,  or  home  missions.  I  was 
to  get  2~)  per  cent  of  the  money  resulting  from  such  sales. 

"About  a  week  later,  when  I  had  received  $12  besides  a 
little  expense  money  from  him.  I  discovered  that  he  was  keep- 
ing all  the  money.     T  took  the  rest  of  the  literature  and  do- 


(IRA FT  ^NATION'S  WORST  FOE  89 

stroyed  it.  Three  days  later,  when  I  was  hungry,  I  rather  re- 
gretted destroying  it. 

"I  Joined  a  circus  that  was  moving  toward  my  home  town 
in  Western  Iowa,  intending  to  leave  it  there  and  quit  being  a 
tramp.  I  was  then  down  in  Eastern  Pennsylvania.  I  was  a 
canvas  hand.  We  went  west  by  a  tortuous  route,  and  I  never 
could  accumulate  enough  coin  to  pay  my  way  home,  so  was 
forced  to  stick  to  the  place  for  many  weeks. 

"The  second  week  one  of  the  canvas  hands  came  to  me  and 
asked  me  to  circulate  a  subscription  paper  among  the  men  for 
the  benefit  of  one  Will  Turner,  a  member  of  the  band,  who, 
he  said,  had  dropped  off  the  train  while  running  over  from 
the  last  stop,  and  badly  injured  himself. 

Gave  the  Monet  to  Canvas  Boss. 

"I  circulated  the  paper.  The  man  told  me  he  already  had 
collected  from  the  band  on  another  subscription  paper,  so  I 
needn't  go  to  them.  The  man  subscribed  over  $40  to  help 
Turner,  and  I' gave  the  money  and  the  paper  to  the  canvas 
boss  who  asked  me  to  make  the  collection. 

"He  took  it,  and  remarked  gratefully  that  ho  would  make 
it  all  right  with  me.  I  didn't  catch  the  significance  of  the 
remark  then.  About  a  week  after  that  the  same  canvas  boss 
came  again  with  another  subscription  paper  for  the  benefit  of 
John  Kane,  who,  he  said,  was  a  gasoline  lamp  tender  and  had 
been  horribly  burned  and  taken  to  the  hospital.  He  told  me  a 
graphic  story  of  the  accident  that  aroused  all  my  sympathy.  I 
took  the  paper  and  worked  hard  on  it  during  the  afternoon 
and  evening  performances,  and,  as  it  was  the  day  after  pay  day, 
T  collected  nearly  $100. 

Worked  the  GtAme  Once  a  Month. 

"I  got  a  shock  when  I  took  the  money  to  the  canvas  boss. 
He  gave  me  $50  and  said: 
"  'That's  your  share.     We'll  work  it  again  next  pay  day.' 


90  GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE 

"Then  I  went  at  him,  and  we  had  quite  a  fight.  We  were 
both  arrested,  and  at  the  hearing  next  morning  I  learned  that 
he  had  been  Avorking  the  game  with  that  same  circus  about 
once  a  month.  There  were  so  many  with  the  outfit  and  so  few 
of  them  knew  each  other  by  name,  and  accidents  were  so  numer- 
ous, that  no  one  suspected  him.  He  had  grown  afraid  to  work 
it  for  himself  and  used  me  for  a  tool. 

"The  show  had  pulled  out  and  the  boss  and  two  others  who 
had  been  arrested  with  us  took  the  first  train  back  to  it.  I 
used  the  $50  to  pay  my  fine  and  get  home,  where  I  found  work 
and  honesty — and,  as  soon  as  possible,  I  sent  to  the  chief  horse- 
man with  the  show  $50,  to  be  added  to  the  fund  for  the  benefit 
of  the  next  person  really  hurt,  telling  him  the  entire  story. 
He  wrote  that  he  had  been  among  those  who  helped  kick  the 
canvas  boss  out  of  the  car  after  he  read  my  letter." 

In  Name  of  Charity. 

There  are  probably  more  "touches"  perpetrated  in  Chicago 
by  professionals  in  the  name  of  charity  than  under  any  other 
guise.  In  this  matter,  more  of  the  protection  of  honest  chari- 
ties than  for  the  protection  of  the  public,  the  police  have  taken 
a  hand  and  done  a  great  deal  to  weed  out  and  punish  the  so- 
licitors for  fake  charities.  An  imaginary  home  for  epileptics 
was  one  of  the  favorite  plans.  There  was  a  home  for  this  class 
of  unfortunates  that  was  honestly  run,  and  the  peculiar  sym- 
pathy enlisted  by  the  mention  of  the  word  epilepsy  was  seized 
upon  by  dishonest  schemers.  Professional  women  solicitors 
were  garbed  as  "nurses"  and  sent  forth.  They  were  mostly 
austere-looking  women  and  silent.  Their  work  of  nursing 
epileptics  was  supposed  to  produce  this  austere  silence.  This 
supposed  charity  appealed  with  uncommon  strength  to  most 
people  because  these  "nurses"  were  supposed  ^to  be  performing 
the  most  unpleasant  work  imaginable  amidst  the  most  grew- 
some  surroundings.     Large  sums  were  collected  in  this  way. 


GRAFT  NxlTION'S  WORST  FOE 


91 


92  GKAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE 

the  promoter  keeping  everything  above  the  liberal  commissioD 
paid  to  solicitors. 

This  One  Made  Fortune, 

Rachel  Gorman  was  the  originator  of  the  "nurse  for  epi- 
leptics" graft,  and  raked  in  thousands  of  dollars  before  she 
finally  was  rounded  up  by  the  police.  Not  one  cent  of  all  the 
money  collected  by  her  and  her  garbed  and  hired  solicitors  ever 
got  past  their  pockets.  In  this  case  the  most  shining  marks 
were  selected.  William  Jennings  Bryan  was  touched  for  $100. 
as  was  the  Governor  of  Illinois,  and  many  others.  This  money 
for  imaginary  epileptics  came  so  easily  that  the  Gorman  woman 
confessed  that  it  was  almost  a  shame  to  take  it. 

There  is  little  excuse,  however,  for  Chicago  men  and  women 
allowing  themselves  to  be  talked  out  of  money  for  charity.  In 
no  great  city  are  the  charity  working  forces  better  organized 
or  better  known.  For  virtually  every  form  and  case  of  need 
there  is  in  Chicago  a  distinct  form  of  honest,  well-organized 
charity.  This  condition  grew  out  of  necessity,  and  promiscu- 
ous giving  to  "touchers"  who  plead  as  qualification  charity 
cases  is  dying  out  as  the  public  comes  to  know  more  of  the 
comprehensive  systems  for  the  help  of  the  worthy  and  unfor- 
tunate. 

It  took  the  hotel  detectives  years  to  check  the  "toucher"  with 
the  fake  bank  account  that  operated  largely  in  the  hotel  lob- 
bies. Now  he  works  in  other  places.  He  carries  a  bank  book 
that  has  all  the  superficial  marks  of  genuineness.  He  engage? 
you  in  conversation,  and  at  what  he  considers  the  right  phy- 
ehological  moment,  he  drops  a  feeler  like  this: 

"It's  h —  to  be  M'ithout  money  when  you've  got  plentv. 
isn't  it?" 

If  you  have  mot  this  type  of  "toucher"  JM^fore,  you  instantly 
see  it  coming  and  chase  off  to  a  most  important  engagement. 
If  not,  you  only  can  agree.  Being  without  money  when  you 
have  none  is  bad;  being  broke  when  you  have  money  is 


GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE  93 

"Look  here,"  says  the  ''toucher/'  "here  is  my  bank  book. 
Look  at  this  balance?" 

Often  Worth  the  Price. 

A  glance  seems  to  show  that  the  bank  owes  your  new  ac- 
quaintance many  thousand;:!.  He  then  tells  how  it  happened., 
how  he  came  to  be  without  a  cent  when  he  was  so  far  to  the 
good  with  his  banker.  It's  a  complicated  tale,  too  long  to  tell 
here.  There  are  lost  letters,  the  cashing  of  checks  for  friends 
and,  confidentially,  a  touch  of  the  pace  that  flattens  bank 
accounts.  By  this  time  you  see  your  finish.  When  you  seek 
to  escape  you  find  yourself  backed  up  to  the  wall  with  no 
chance  to  sidestep.  The  best  you  can  do  is  to  scale  the  orig- 
inal touch  from  $1  to  50  cents,  thereby  making  50  cents  for 
yourself  and  50  cents  for  the  "toucher." 

To  "stand  for"  all  the  "touches"  that  are  made  in  Chicago 
one  would  require  an  income  far  in  excess  of  that  enjoyed 
by  most.  Those  that  are  responded  to  are  those  in  cases  where 
the  donor  generously  thinks  that  the  "toucher"  really  needs 
the  money.  Probably  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  there  is  no 
delusion  as  to  the  fiction  woven  in  order  to  drag  forth  the 
nickel,  the  dime,  the  quarter  or  the  dollar.  Often  it  is  worth 
the  price  to  hear  the  fiction. 

But  after  all  one  feels  refreshed  Avhen  a  frank  but  hoarse 
and  trembling  hobo  says : 

"Say,  Mister,  me  t'roat  is  baked  and  me  coppers  sizzlin'. 
Gimme  de  price  of  a  drink.  Did  you  ever  feel  like  jumpin' 
from  de  bridge  fur  lack  of  a  stingy  little  dime  fur  booze?" 

Here,  you  feel,  is  no  misrepresentation.  Here  you  may  in- 
vest a  dime  without  feeling  that  you  have  been  stung. 

Raffles  Bank  Robbery. 

One  of  the  most  annoying  of  small  grafts  is  the  riaffle,  as 
conducted  for  gain.     It  is  bad  enough  to  be  held  up  for  35 


94  GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE 

cents  or  50  cents  for  a  ticket  which  entitles  3'ou  to  a  chance 
on  a  rug  or  a  clock  when  you  reasonably  are  sure  that  the  pro- 
ceeds will  go  to  charity,  but  no  man  likes  to  be  fooled  out  of 
his  small  change  by  a  cheap  grafter,  even  if  the  grafter  hap- 
pens to  need  the  money. 

A  story  is  told  of  two  printers  who  lived  for  a  month  on  a 
cheap  silver  watch  which  they  ralHed  off  almost  daily  until  they 
had  "worked"  nearly  all  the  printing  offices  of  any  size  in 
town.  These  typographical  grafters  are  unworthy  of  the  noble 
craft  to  which  they  belong.  They  pretended  to  be  jobless  on 
account  of  last  year's  strike,  and  unable  to  live  with  their 
families  on  the  money  furnished  by  the  union. 

How  Skix  Raffle  is  Worked. 

During  the  noon  liour,  or  about  closing  or  opening  time,  one 
of  the  men  would  saunter  into  a  composing  room  and  put  up  a 
hard  luck  story.  He  had  an  old  silvcrine  watch  that  he  wanted 
to  raffle  off,  if  he  could  sell  twenty  tickets  at  2o  cents  each. 
He  usually  managed  to  sell  the  tickets. 

About  the  time  the  drawing  was  to  take  place  the  confed- 
erate entered  and  cheerfully  took  a  chance  and  won  the  watch 
without  any  difficulty.  Thus,  they  had  the  watch  and  the  $5 
also.  They  would  split  the  money,  and  on  the  first  convenient 
occasion  the  raffle  would  be  repeated  at  another  place,  and  by 
some  trick  known  to  themselves  the  drawing  was  manipulated 
so  that  the  confederate  always  won  the  watch. 

A  South  Side  woman  recently  had  500  raffle  tickets  printed, 
to  be  sold  at  10  cents  each,  the  drawing  to  be  on  Thanksgiving 
day,  for  a  "grand  parlor  clock,''  the  proceeds  to  be  for  tlu' 
benefit  of  a  "poor  widow."  As  the  woman  herself  happens  to 
be  a  grass  M-idow,  and  as  the  place  of  the  drawing  could  not  be 
learned,  neither  could  there  be  obtained  a  sight  of  the  clock, 
it  is  not  difficult  to  guess  the  final  destination  of  $50  for  whirli 
the  tickets  were  sold. 


GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE  95 

Popular  Game  in  Saloons. 

At  many  saloons  and  cigar  stores  there  is  a  continuous  raffle 
in  progress  for  a  "fine  gold  watch."  It  is  well  for  those  who 
buy  chances  to  inspect  the  time  piece  with  a  critical  eye.  One 
of  these  watches  was  submitted  to  a  jeweler  by  the  man  who 
won  it.  "It's  what  we  call  an  auction  watch,"  said  the  expert. 
"It  is  worth  about  87  cents  wholesale.  The  case  is  gilded,  and 
the  works  are  of  less  value  than  the  movement  of  a  69-cent 
alarm  clock.  It  was  keep  time  until  the  brass  begins  to  show 
through  the  plate,  and  it  may  not. 

One  of  the  attractive  forms  of  the  raffle  ticket  game  is  valu- 
ing the  tickets  at  from  1  cent  up  to  as  high  as  desired.  The 
man  who  buys  a  chance  draws  a  little  envelope  containing  his 
number.  If  he  is  lucky  and  draws  a  small  number  he  is  en- 
couraged to  try  again.  This  is  a  sort  of  double  gamble,  and 
many  men  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  speculate  upon  the 
chances,  simply  in  order  to  have  the  fun  of  drawing  the  little 
envelopes. 

Of  course,  many  of  the  raffles  are  for  cases  of  genuine  char- 
ity, and  it  is  an  easy  way  to  raise  a  fund  for  some  worthy  ob- 
ject. Many  a  person  would  not  accept  an  outright  gift,  even 
in  case  of  sickness  or  death,  will  permit  friends  to  raffle  oif  a 
piano  or  a  bicycle  for  a  good  round  price  in  order  to  obtain  a 
fund  to  tide  him  over  an  emergency.  To  buy  tickets  for  this 
kind  of  a  raffle  is  praiseworthy. 

Raffle  is  Lottery  by  Law. 

But  sharpers  are  not  above  getting  money  by  the  same  means. 
If  a  strange  man,  or  a  doubtful  looking  woman,  wants  to  sell 
you  a  chance  for  the  benefit  of  "an  old  soldier,"  or  a  "little 
orphan  girl,"  or  a  "striker  out  of  work  "  it  might  pay  you  to 
investigate. 

But  here  is  where  the  easy  money  comes  in  for  the  sharper. 
It  is  too  much  trouble  to  investigate,  and  the  tender-hearted 


96  GBAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FO:B 

person  would  sooner  give  up  the  10,  25  or  50  cents  to  an  un- 
worthy grafter  than  to  take  chances  of  refusing  to  aid  a  case  of 
genuine  need. 

Then,  too,  there  is  what  might  be  called  a  sort  of  legitimate 
raffle  business.  Of  course,  the  raffle  is  a  lottery  under  the 
law,  and,  therefore,  is  a  criminal  transaction.  But  in  many 
cases  goods  of  known  value,  but  slow  sale,  are  disposed  of 
through  raffles,  and  the  drawings  conducted  honestly.  A  North 
Side  man  disposed  of  an  automobile  in  this  way.  It  had  been 
a  good  wagon  in  its  day,  though  the  type  was  old.  He  wanted 
to  get  a  new  one,  and  as  the  makers  would  not  allow  him  any- 
thing in  exchange  for  the  old.  He  sold  raffle  tickets  to  the 
amount  of  $500,  and  the  winner  got  a  real  bargain — ^the  losers 
paying  the  bill. 

Raffles  That  Are  Steals. 

A  group  of  young  men  who  wanted  to  build  themselves  a 
little  club  house  in  the  Fox  Lake  region,  resorted  to  a  raffle 
that  was  almost  a  downright  steal.  They  had  the  printer  make 
them  tickets,  and  each  one  went  among  his  friends  and  or- 
ganized a  "suit  club,"  selling  chances  for  a  $30  tailor-made 
suit.  Of  course  those  who  invested  understood  that  the  suit 
probably  would  be  worth  about  $18,  but  they  were  satisfied 
to  help  build  the  club  house  on  that  basis,  and  besides  they 
thought  they  had  a  fair  chance  to  get  the  suit. 

It  was  learned  afterward  by  accident  that  there  were  twenty 
"series'*  of  tickets  sold  by  these  young  men,  and  instead  of  each 
series  standing  for  a  suit,  only  one  drawing  was  hold,  and  only 
a  single  suit  made  for  the  entire  twenty  scries  of  tickets.  In 
other  words,  tlicy  sold  $500  worth  of  tickets  for  a  $30  suit  of 
clothes.  They  built  their  club  house,  however,  and  laughed 
at  the  man  who  kicked  because  he  thought  he  did  not  get  a 
square  deal  for  the  half  dozen  tickets  he  bought.  They  thought 
it  was  a  good  joke. 


GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE  97 

Graft  of  Train  Butcher  East. 

la  these  days  if  anything  gets  past  the  up-to-date  train 
butcher  it  isn't  because  the  public  knowns  any  more  than  it 
did  in  Barnum's  time.  We  get  a  customer  every  minute  by 
the  birth  records. 

For  a  genuine,  all-roimd,  dyed-in-the-wool  separator  of  coin 
from  its  proud  possessor,  the  train  butcher  is  the  limit.  Here 
is  a  word  for  word  story  by  a  train  'T)utch"  of  how  the  thing 
is  done.  He  excuses  his  tactics  much  the  same  way  that  the 
little  rogue  does  who  points  out  that  the  giant  malefactors  are 
doing  the  same  thing,  but  "getting  away  with  it."  Enter  Mr. 
Butch. 

"I  got  back  yesterday  from  a  two  days'  trip — out  and  in. 
I  had  $29.65  to  the  good,  and  the  company  satisfied,  and  nary 
a  kick  from  the  railroad.  At  one  little  place  down  the  line, 
though,  a  railroad  detective  got  aboard  and  tried  to  detect. 

"  'Say,  young  feller,'  he  said  to  me,  'I  saw  you  go  through 
here  yesterday  lookin'  pretty  spruce,  and  I  thought  I'd  better 
take  a  look  through  yer  grips  as  you  came  back.  What  yer 
got  in  there?' 

"He  kicked  my  grip,  and  I  opened  her  up  on  the  minute. 
He  went  through  it  like  an  old  goat  through  a  cracker  barrel, 
but  he  didn't  find  anything — see?  If  he'd  looked  under  the 
cushion  of  a  seat  in  the  smoker  he  might  have  found  a  whole 
lot  of  stuff  that  didn't  look  like  a  prayer  meeting  layout. 

What  Was  Hidden  Under  Seat. 

"Say,  I  bet  I  had  fourteen  $2  gold  watches,  twenty  gold- 
rimmed  spectacles  that  cost  me  15  cents  apiece,  one  dozen 
books,  tightly  sealed  in  wrappers,  that  looked  mighty  inter- 
esting to  the  jay  who  couldn't  see  into  the  books,  and  yet  who 
fiad  to  do  it  finally  at  $8  apiece,  and,  as  a  topper  of  it  all,  my 
three-book  monte  game.    Did  you  ever  see  the  game? 

'Tve  got  a  line  of  wild  west  books  about  two  inches  thick, 


98  GRAFT  >fATIOFS  WOEST  FOE 

each,  and  costing  me  40  cents  a  volume.  They've  got  some 
great  pictures  on  the  cloth  covers,  and  ma3'be  there's  some  hot 
stuff  inside — I  don't  know.  But  here's  my  unparalleled  offer: 
I  pick  out  my  man  and  lay  these  three  volumes  across  his  knees 
in  the  car  seat  and  go  after  him  with  some  of  the  warmest  kind 
of  air  about  their  interest,  the  binding,  and  the  illustrations. 
'TTou  pay  me  $5  for  the  set,"  I  explain,  *T)ut  in  doing  it  I 
give  you  a  chance  to  get  the  books  for  nothing  and  at  the 
same  time  double  your  investment. 

How  Three  Book  ]Monte  Is  Played. 

"I  take  out  three  small,  thin  spelling  books,  cloth  bound,  all 
alike  as  the  bindery  and  the  presses  can  make  them.  Then, 
careless  like,  I  take  a  $10  bill  out  of  my  pocket,  fold  it  across 
in  a  sort  of  V-shape  and  slip  it  into  the  middle  of  one  of  the 
spelling  books,  so  that  just  one  corner  will  stick  out,  probably 
a  quarter  of  an  inch.  Of  course,  I  haven't  seen  it !  Sometimes 
the  man  on  the  cars  will  try  to  say  something  about  it,  but  I 
cut  in  and  drown  him  out  with  easy  talk  till  he  gets  the  idea 
that  he  might  as  well  have  that  ten  and  the  books  for  five,  and 
let  it  go  at  that. 

But  one  corner  all  the  time  is  torn  off  that  bill,  and  about 
a  quarter  of  an  inch  of  that  bill  is  sticking  out  of  the  center 
of  one  of  the  other  books.    Of  course  the  jay  hasn't  seen  that  I 

Shows  Corner  of  Bill. 

"Well,  I  begin  and  shuffle  the  books  on  the  payment  of  tlie  $.■>. 
As  they  are  shuffled  the  corner  of  the  bill  tliat  is  still  attached 
gets  turned  around  next  to  me,  while  the  corner  that  is  torn  off 
gets  around  next  to  the  passenger,  whom  I  have  cornered  in 
the  seat  in  a  way  that  he  can't  see  everything  that  he  really 
ought  to  see  in  order  to  save  his  money.  When  I  hold  out  the 
three  books  for  the  drawing  T  am  in  a  position  where  I  couldn't 
possibly  see  the  corner  that  sticks  out,  while  he  is  where  ho 
can't  see  anything  else. 


GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE  99 

"And  he  draws  the  book  with  the  corner  sticking  out! 

"I  take  it  from  him  instantly,  and  hold  it  up  with  the  hill 
corner  at  the  bottom,  flipping  the  leaves  through  from  front 
to  back  and  forward  again.  In  the  act  the  corner  of  the  bill 
drops  out  on  the  floor,  where  he  doesn't  see.  'Not  here,'  I  says. 
'You  made  a  bad  draw.  Here's  the  bill,'  I  says,  taking  up  the 
book  that  holds  it  and  turning  to  the  $10  bill,  just  where  it  lies. 
He  doesn't  know  how  it  all  happened,  but  I  console  him  that 
he  has  the  three  wild  west  books  for  his  library  when  he  gets 
home. 

All  Suckers  Not  in  Day  Coaches. 

"I  don't  find  all  these  suckers  in  the  day  coaches — ^not  on 
your  life.  I  found  two  pretty  boys  in  the  smoking  room  of  a 
sleeping  car  a  week  ago,  and  I  had  $7.50  from  one  of  them  and 
$5  from  the  other,  and  they  didn't  know  a  line  about  it  till 
they  got  together  after  I  had  gone. 

"Friends  of  mine  have  kicked  because  I  get  $2,  or  $3,  or  $4 
apiece  for  gold-rimmed  spectacles  that  cost  me  $1.80  a  dozen. 
But  where  is  the  kick.  I  know  men  who  have  paid  $10  or  $15 
for  glasses  from  an  oculist  when  the  glass  was  cut  out  of  a 
broken  window  pane.     I  save  such  people  money,  don't  I? 

"I  am  not  out  after  the  old  farmer  with  hayseed  in  his  hair 
and  leaf  tobacco  in  his  mouth,  chewing.  There  are  a  lot  of 
gay  chaps  traveling  these  days  who  think  they've  got  the  bulge 
on  the  train  butcher  by  a  sort  of  birthright  or  something. 
They  are  after  me,  sometimes,  till  I  can't  go  to  sleep  after  I 
come  in  from  a  run.  For  instance,  the  other  day  a  chap  got 
into  the  train  out  of  a  little  country  town,  intending  to  go  to 
another  little  town  twenty  miles  away  without  change  of  cars. 
He  had  $2  cash  and  a  guitar  when  he  got  on  the  train,  but  I 
had  both  when  he  got  off.  He  wasn't  mad  at  all ;  he  just  didn't 
understand  it.  For  that  reason  I'll  see  him  again  one  of  these 
days,  and  he  will  buck  the  game  harder  than  he  did  the  first 
time.     The  trouble  is  he  wants  to  vindicate  himself;  he's  one 


liJU  <iJ;AF'r   NA'J'IONS  WOHST   FuK     - 

of  lliese  t;mavt  alecs  Ihat  you  conldTi't  down   witli  a  crowbar — 
he  (lonM  think  ! 

("orxTRY  Towx  "Sport"  P]asiest  ^Iahk. 

"Just  give  me  the  dead-game  sport  as  he  comes  from  the 
countrv  and  the  conntry  town.  He's  as  good  as  I  want.  It's  a 
sort  of  charity  to  take  his  money  away  from  him  before  he  gets 
into  real  trouble  with  it.  One  of  them  thougiit  he  had  me  the 
other  day  when  I  tried  to  sell  him  a  pair  of  my  famous  $4 
glasses  with  the  gold  rims.  His  had  silver,  only,  Imt  he  told  me 
mine  wouldn't  show  a  full  moon  after  dark. 

"I  asked  him  to  let  me  see  his  specs  and  he  handed  them 
over.  I  had  a  bit  of  wax  out  of  my  ear  on  the  tip  of  my  little 
finger.  I  touched  each  of  the  glasses  with  the  wax,  smearing 
them  a  little  with  it.  That  fixed  his  glasses  for  good,  and  don't 
forget  it.  You  can't  get  ear  wax  off  a  pair  of  spectacles  with 
anything  yet  invented;  it's  got  a  sort  of  acid  that  eats  into  the 
glass  and  won't  ever  clear  up  again.  The  fellow  got  hot  about 
it,  but  I  didn't  know  anything,  of  course,  and  finally  sold  him 
a  pair  of  my  $1.80  a  dozen  glasses  for  $1.50  cash,  net. 

"0,  some  peopk^  are  almost  too  easy — T  get  ashamed  of  my 
calling!" 

WoMKx  Victims  of  Old  Toupox  Scheme. 

There  is  another  moss-grown  swindle,  which,  like  hope, 
seems  to  "spring  perennial"  in  the  greater  cities. 

This  is  the  old-time  coupon  swindle.  A  suave  young  man 
appears  at  the  door,  inserts  his  foot  in  the  crack,  if  you  try  to 
slam  it  in  his  face,  and  rapidly  begins  to  explain  that  he  has 
something  to  offer  you  for  nothing.  The  housewife  sighs  with 
resignation,  and  admits  the  suave  young  man,  thinking  that 
she  might  as  well  get  it  over.  But  let  the  housewife  herself 
talk.  Here  is  the  story  of  a  good  woman  who  was  caught  by 
one  of  these  pettifogging  grafters: 

"Since  my  husband  died  T  have  partly  cMrned  my  living  by 


CIKAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE  101 

renting  furnished  rooms.  This  seems  to  be  the  first  thing  a 
woman  thinks  of  doing  when  she  is  left  unprovided  for,  but  it 
isn't  a  business  of  large  profits,  and  few  of  us  ever  cut  'melons.' 
My  furniture,  of  course,  represented  my  'plant,'  and  it  was 
growing  shabby. 

"That  is,  perhaps,  why  the  glib  agent  got  a  hearing  from 
me.  He  had  a  lovely  proposition.  Opening  a  catalogue  he 
showed  me  pictures  of  beautiful  pieces  of  farniture,  made  from 
expensive  materials,  just  the  kind  that  Avould  make  my  rooms 
attractive  and  easy  to  rent. 

''N'ow,"  said  he,  "I  am  soliciting  subscriptions  for  a  weekly' 
paper.  This  paper  will  cost  you  10  cents  a  number,  and  with 
each  number  you  get  a  coupon.  When  you  have  accumulated 
sixty-eight  coupons  you  can  bring  them  to  our  ware  room  and 
select  any  one  of  these  elegant  pieces  of  furniture. 

"Why,"  said  I,  "if  these  articles  are  as  represented,  I  couldn't 
buy  them  at  any  store  in  town  for  three  times  what  sixty-eight 
coupons  would  cost  me — $6.80." 

The  Old  "Wareroom"  Tale. 

"  'Call  at  our  wareroom.  lady,  before  you  sign  the  contract, 
and  you  will  see  they  are  just  as  described.' 

"Well,  I  saw  the  articles,  and  they  were  all  they  were  said  to 
])e.  They  explained  that  they  were  practically  giving  them  away 
in  order  to  build  up  the  circulation  of  the  paper.  Everything 
appeared  to  be  all  right,  and  I  signed  a  contract.  So  did  my 
widowed  sister;  so  did  some  of  my  neighbors. 

"The  paper  was  wortliless,  but  I  didn't  care.  Sometimes  I 
would  buy  several  copies  of  one  issue  so  as  to  make  haste  to- 
ward getting  my  sixty-eight  coupons.  The  time  came  when  I 
went  around  to  select  my  furniture.  I  selected  it,  all  right — a 
handsome  chiffonier. 

"  'This  chiffonier  calls  for  360  coupons,'  said  the  man. 

"  '"Why,  your  agent  told  me  I  could  have  any  of  these  pieces 
when  I  had  accumulated  sixty-eight  coupons,'  said  I,  dismayed. 


102  (}RAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOK 

"  'He  couldn't  have  told  3'on  that/'  said  the  man.  'Read  yonr 
contract.  You  will  seQ  it  says  that  when  yon  have  sixty-eight 
coupons  you  may  select  any  one  of  these  articles,  but  that 
means  we  will  then  hold  the  article  for  you  until  you  have 
paid  the  rest.  Why,  we  have  goods  here  that  call  for  GOO  and 
700  coupons.' 

"I  saw  how  I  Jiad  been  swindled,  and  was  furious.  I  tokl 
him  what  I  thought  of  him  and  his  business,  and  he  offered  to 
tear  up  my  contract  (which,  it  turned  out,  bound  me  to  more 
than  I  had  dreamed  of),  if  I  would  pay  him  an  additional  $2.oO. 
I  refused.  He  said  he  would  sue  me  if  I  didn't.  T  told  him 
to  go  ahead. 

''Shortly  afterward  a  constable  served  a  summons  on  me  to 
appear  at  a  justice  court  at  the  other  end  of  creation.  I  didn't 
go;  and  I  don't  know  whether  the  concern  got  a  judgment 
against  me  or  not. 

"But  I  do  know  I  haven't  anything  to  show  for  the  money  1 
paid  for  those  coupons." 

BOOK  LOVERS  EASY  PREY  OF  FRAUDS. 

Bogus  Art  Works  Fine  CI  raft. 

Some  of  our  citizeus  are  paying  a  high  price  for  education 
in  art  and  book  swindles.  People,  generally,  are  becoming  ex- 
perts in  detecting  small  frauds  and  attacks  upon  their  pocket- 
books,  and  are  becoming  wise  to  pious  dodges  that  run  into 
spiritualism,  clairvoyance  and  fortune  telling,  but  when  a  large, 
smooth  scheme  is  broached,  they  get  caught.  It  may  be  that 
we  have  concentrated  our  minds  upon  so  many  trifling  schemes 
to  part  us  from  our  money,  that  we  have  laid  ourselves  bare  to 
big  operators  in  big  frauds  like  that  perpetrated  \ipon  the  Pat- 
ten family  of  Evanston.  The  clever  fakir  reached  for  $10,000 
in  an  "old  book"  game  and  came  very  near  gathering  in  the  pot. 
Ho  did  get  $2,000,  which  was  a  very  neat  job. 


GEAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE  103 

It  appears  that  there  is  a  wide-spread  system  under  the  opera- 
tions of  which  Chicago  book  lovers,  and  others  all  over  the  coun- 
try, have  been  bilked  out  of  a  sum  estimated  at  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars.  The  same  system  is  applied  to  paintings 
by  the  "old  masters/'  for  which  some  Chicago  men  have  paid 
fabulous  sums,  only  to  find  them  imitations.  The  expert 
frauds  are  geniuses  in  their  peculiar  calling,  and  would  deceive 
the  elect  if  listened  to.  A  bright,  smart,  well  groomed  man 
with  letters  of  introduction  from  hi^h  quarters,  often  forged, 
perhaps  with  a  title,  breaks  into  society  and  bides  his  time  'to 
make  a  big  haul.  The  vanity  and  foibles  of  the  high-steppers 
and  nobility  worshipers  are  pandered  to  with  masterly  skill, 
and  then  a  mere  suggestion  of  untold  values  in  books  or  paint- 
ings is  breathed  in  secret.  Do  the  big  fish  bite?  Some  of 
them  swallow  the  bait  and  it  has  to  be  cut  out  of  them  be- 
fore they  will  give  it  up.  It  is  becoming  so  easy  to  gull  some 
people,  that  the  crime  should  consist  in  the  betrayal  of  inno- 
cence rather  than  in  the  successful  fraud.  While  guillible 
people  continue  to  parade  their  guillibility  to  the  world,  there 
will  always  be  frauds  to  take  advantage  of  them.  If  any- 
body doubts  the  fact  that  people  can  be  easily  defrauded,  let 
him  visit  any  old  book  store,  'antique  furniture  dealer,  ori- 
ental rug  concern,  even  junk  shops.  He  will  find  an  amazing 
army  of  faddists,  who  are  willing  to  pay  any  exorbitant  price 
for  some  cheap  fraud  because  a  gentlemanly  man,  or  an  opium- 
smoking  Chinaman,  tells  him  it  is  the  real  thing.  WTien  busi- 
ness is  dull  at  the  shops,  agents  visit  front  doors,  back  doors, 
or  invade  society  with  some  bogus  Job  of  "art"  works  and  rea- 
lize enormous  sums. 

Miserable  Little  Short  Measure  Thieves. 

In  the  Municipal  Court  in  South  Chicago  three  extremely 
mean  swindlers  have  been  fined  $25  and  costs.  It  is  unfor- 
tunate that  they  could  not  have  been  sent  to  the  Bridewell 
without  the  alternative  of  paying  the  fine. 


104  GKAFT  XATiUN>;  WORST  FOE 

For  these  swindlers  were  coal  dealers  who  robbed  the  poor 
that  bought  coal  by  the  basket.  They  STOLE  money  from 
their  customers,  just  as  the  short-measure  milk  trust  conspira- 
tors robl^ed  their  patrons.  We  repeat  that  they  ought  to  be  in 
the  Bridewell. 

Giving  short  measure  is  the  dirtiest,  smallest,  most  cowardly 
form  of  commercial  rascality.  The  hold-up  man  who  takes  his 
life  in  his  hand  and  robs  on  the  public  highway  is  a  model  of 
decency  and  courage  as  compared  with  the  pitiful  rascal  who 
steals  the  pennies  of  the  poor  by  selling  coal  or  milk  or  any 
other  necessity  of  life  by  short  weight. 

Short  weight  is  larceny.  It  ought  to  be  treated  as  larcenv 
by  law. 

Crime  a  Fixe  Ai!t. 

Living  by  one's  wits  has  become  a  fine  art,  and  it  is  a  pro- 
fession that  is  more  liberally  patronized  than  any  other  by  the 
present  generation.  One  of  America's  leading  detectives  re- 
marked tliat  there  were  about  seventy-five  thousand  people  in 
a  city  the  size  of  Chicago  that  would  bear  watcliing.  There 
isn't  a  bank,  insurance  office,  dry  goods  store,  restaurant  or 
hotel  that  does  not  employ  men  to  watch  their  customers,  and 
there  is  hardly  a  business  house  in  the  country  that  has  not 
some  system  of  watching  its  employes.  Everybody  at  tliis  day 
seems  to  be  afraid  of  everybody  else. 

Professional  criminals  pride  themselves  quite  as  much  upon 
their  ability  as  men  engaged  in  legitimate  occupations.  A 
thief,  for  instance,  is  as  vain  of  his  superiorit}'  over  other 
thieves  as  a  lawyer,  politician,  or  clergyman  might  be  whose 
talents  had  elevated  him  to  a  conunnuding  position  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people.  And  the  talented  thief  is  as  much  courted 
and  sought  after  as  the  successful  man  in  the  honest  walks 
of  life.  The  other  thieves  will  say:  "He  is  a  good  man  to 
know;  I  must  make  his  acquaintance."  But  the  thief  who  has 
earned  a  reputation  is  particular  about  the  company  he  keep-, 


GKAFT  NATION'S  WUilST  FOK 


105 


106  GRAFT  XATION'S  WORST  FOE 

and  is  seornftil  in  his  demeanor  toward  another  thief  whom 
ho  does  not  consider  his  professional  equal.  Caste  exists  among 
criminals  as  well  as  among  other  classes. 

Men  and  women  who  are  not  living  merely  for  today  must  be 
deeply  interested  in  the  efforts  which  practical  philanthropists 
are  making  to  discover  the  causes  of  crime  and  to  remedy  the 
mischievous  conditions  which  now  prevail  to  such  an  alarming 
extent.  Hidden  away  to  a  considerable  degree  in  the  great 
mass  of  figures  which  came  into  being  through  the  operations 
of  the  census  bureau,  are  facts  that  should  shock  every  good 
citizen.  With  all  the  warmth  of  eulogy  the  story  of  wonderful 
progress  has  been  told  again  and  again,  but  only  a  few  refer- 
ences have  been  made  to  the  abnormal  growth  of  what  may  be 
termed  by  the  criminal  class.  Forty  years  ago  there  was  but 
one  criminal  to  3,500  good  or  reasonably  good  citizens.  Ac- 
cording to  the  last  census  the  proportion  was  one  in  786.5, 
an  increase  of  445  per  cent  in  a  period  during  which  the  popu- 
lation increased  but  170  per  cent.  Xever  in  the  nation's  his- 
tory has  educational  work  of  all  descriptions  been  nearly  so 
active  as  at  present,  yet  the  increase  in  the  number  of  those 
who  were  confined  in  penitentiaries  and  jails  and  reformatory 
institutions  is  almost  twice  as  rapid  as  the  growth  of  popu- 
lation. 

Cities  Breeding  Spots  of  Chime. 

The  true  explanation  of  tliis  unsatisfactory  state  of  things 
is  not  far  to  seek.  It  is  almost  entirely  to  be  attributed  to  the 
growing  tendency  of  the  community  to  become  concentrated 
in  large  cities.  A  higlily  concentrated  popuhition  fosters  law- 
less and  immoral  instincts  in  such  a  multitude  of  ways  that 
it  is  only  an  expression  of  literal  exactitude  to  call  the  great 
cities  of  today  the  nurseries  of  modern  crime.  Statistics  of 
all  kinds  show  this,  but  it  can  easily  be  ascertained  without 
the  aid  of  any  figures.     The  aggregation  df  large  multitudes 


GRAFT  NATION'S  WORST  FOE  107 

within  a  very  limited  area  must  increase  the  chances  of  conflict, 
and  consequently  multiply  the  occasions  for  crime. 

A  population  in  this  crowded  condition  has  also  to  be  re- 
strained and  regulated  at  every  turn  by  a  huge  network  of 
laws,  and  as  every  new  law  forbids  something  which  was  per- 
mitted before,  a  multiplication  of  laws  is  inevitably  followed 
by  an  increase  of  crime. 

The  prevention  of  crime  should  be  the  great  object  with  the 
philanthropist.  The  obvious  remedy  is,  if  possible,  to  aid  the 
individual  in  overcoming  the  temptation  to  evil  or  to  crime. 
The  remedy  must  be  general,  gradual,  and  constant.  It  con- 
sists in  religious,  moral,  intellectual,  and  industrial  education 
of  the  children,  especially  of  the  poor  and  unfortunate  and  the 
weakling  classes.  The  most  certain  preventive  is  the  early  in- 
carnation of  good  habits  in  children,  which,  becoming  part  and 
parcel  of  their  nervous  organization,  are  an  unconscious  force 
when  passion,  perplexity,  or  temptation  tend  to  make  them 
lose  self-control.  Little  can  be  expected  from  palliative  reme- 
dies for  social  diseases  so  long  as  this  educational  remedy  is 
not  thoroughly  carried  out. 

America's  Educated  Criminal  Class. 

The  great  mass  of  the  American  people,  aside  from  those 
who  have  had  experience  in  hunting  and  shadowing  criminals, 
labor  under  the  popular  delusion  that  the  most  daring  crim- 
inals of  today  are  a  lot  of  tough,  ignorant  men,  with  little  or 
no  education  at  all,  who  would  do  almost  anything  else  than 
work  honestly  for  a  living.  If  people  would  but  stop  to  con- 
sider the  subject  a  moment  they  would  readily  discover  their 
error.  There  are,  it  is  true,  a  large  number  of  swindlers, 
thieves,  pickpockets,  thugs  and  criminals  of  a  like  class  who 
have  but  a  scant  knowledge  of  books,  or  literature,  but  they  are 
only  to  be  found  among  the  lower  class  of  criminals.  The  most 
notorious  criminals  the  world  has  ever  produced  have  been  men 
and  women  of  high  culture  and  refinement,  well  educated  and 


3  08  (iHAF'l'   NA'IMOXS   \\()1{ST   KoK 

thoroughly  posted  on  all  that  is  transpiring.  It  is  this  class 
of  people  who  make  the  most  successful,  and  at  the  same  time 
7nost  dangerous,  criminals.  It  requires  men  of  education  to 
swindle,  crack  a  safe,  rob  a  bank,  jewelrj^  store  or  forge  a  paper. 
To  be  a  successful  confidence  operator  requires  the  man  to  bo 
well  educated  in  matters  of  all  "kinds,  to  be  a  fluent  talker,  a 
person  of  refinement  and  polite  address,  and  a  good  judge  of 
charaoter. 

Kefixed  rni-MixAi.s  Most  Dangerous, 

Criminal  history  shows  that  the  most  successful  jobs  are 
always  planned  and  executed  by  men  of  education;  the  details 
of  some  of  the  great  forgeries  that  have  taken  place,  of  the 
numerous  bank  robberies  and  burglar's  exploits,  all  go  to  show 
the  direction  of  a  brain  of  no  ordinary  person,  being  proof 
j)ositivo  that  the  persons  planning  the  work  possessed  both 
education  and  talent.  First  class  criminals  are  exceedingly 
hard  to  cope  with,  and  are  the  most  dangerous  to  handle  by 
the  officers.  They  do  not  generally  do  things  in  a  rush  or  by 
halves.  Great  care  is  given  to  all  the  minor  details  of  their 
work,  and  it  often  takes  weeks  and  months  before  they  an^ 
ready  to  put  their  plans  into  operatiou.  They  study  all  the 
|)o«;sibilities  of  the  job;  the  chances  of  success,  and  the  way  of 
escape  in  case  of  failure;  how  they  can  cover  all  traces  of  the 
work  and  throw  the  guilt  or  suspicion  upon  the  more  unfor- 
tunate of  their  class  who  have  bad  reputations  and  who  arr 
likely  to  be  brought  up  and  possibly  convicted  on  suspicion  of 
being  the  guilty  parties.  Educated  crooks  are  always  to  be 
feared,  not  only  by  the  public  against  whom  they  are  constantly 
devising  ways  and  means  to  relieve  of  their  valuables,  but  by 
detectives  of  a  lesser  grade.  Tliis  class  of  crooks  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  sacrifice  the  d(^t(Y'tive  if  their  desired  ends  can  be 
suecessfully  nceoniplished.  uhile  the  detective  finds  it  a  task 
of  no  little  nionier)t  to  gain  even  the  fnintest  elne  to  th(>ir 
operations. 


UiiAF'J'  .NATIONS   VVUIWI'   b'(.)K  iu;» 

Prison  Poor  Cure  for  Crime. 

Locking  a  man  up  for  oomniitting  a  crime  does  not  always 
v?ure  him.  It  is  now  proven  that  affixed  penalties  to  certain 
crimes  accomplishes  practically  nothing,  for  it  is  based  on  a 
Avrong  principle.  The  length  of  confinement  ought,  confessedly, 
to  be  adjusted  to  the  needs  of  the  prisoner.  He  should  not  be 
discharged  from  his  moral  hospital  until  there  is  reasonable 
assurance  that  he  is  cured.  He  certainly  should  not  be  turned 
loose  on  society,  on  the  mere  expiration  of  a  formal  sentence, 
when  it  is  known  he  will  begin  anew  on  his  old  life.  Protec- 
tion to  society,  as  well  as  the  reformation  of  the  criminal,  call 
for  the  retention  of  thelatter  until  he  can  be  trusted  with  his 
liberty,  and  affords  proof  that  he  is  fitted  to  take  his  place  in 
the  world  as  a  useful,  law-abiding  citizen.  This  system  alone 
permits  the  fullest  scope  to  reformatory  methods,  and  leaves 
to  the  court  the  right  of  sentencing  indefinitely,  and  to  the 
tribunal  which  has  to  do  with  the  prisoner's  release,  to  say 
when  there  is  reasonable  ground  for  faith  that  if  discharged 
lie  will  not  prove  either  a  burden  or  menace  to  society.  Where 
conduct  and  character  afford  no  such  grounds  he  shouldtbe  in- 
carcerated for  life,  just  as  we  would  retain  hopeless  lunatics 
in   asylums. 

Maconochie's  Experiment. 

This  form  of  sentence  was  first  put  into  operation  in  a  modi- 
fied form  by  Maconochie,  at  Norfolk  Island,  in  1836,  with  a 
success  in  the  way  of  reformatory  results  from  the  start  which 
was  unequalled.  Now  the  best  authorities  in  penology  in  all 
countries  not  only  commend  it,  but  the  opinion  is  fast  becom- 
ing general  that  it  is  a  necessary  feature  in  every  reformatory 
system  of  prison  discipline.  Of  course  it  implies  in  prison 
management  the  highest  wisdom  and  integrity,  and  especially 
the  banishment  of  partisan  politics  therefrom.  It  makes  the 
dominant  idea  of  prison  administration  manhood-making,  and 
not  money-making. 


no  (;f{AFT  NATION'S  VVOKST  FOE 

Faces  Portray  Character. 

Every  one  knows  that  men's  passions,  propensities,  and  pe- 
culiarities, as  well 'as  their  calling,  are  reflected  in  their  faces. 

It  is  as  impossible  to  disguise  a  face  as  a  handwriting. 
\Mien  the  expert  comes  the  disguise  is  torn  off  and  the  face 
tells  the  true  story  of  the  spirit  inside  the  body.  One  only 
needs  to  visit  the  penitentiary  to  realize  how  undeniably  vice 
writes  its  sign  manual  on  the  features.  It  is  not  the  drunkard 
only  whose  red  nose,  flabby  cheeks  and  rheumy  eyes  betray  him : 
it  is  the  scnualist  whose  vice  is  read  in  his  lips,  the  knave  whose, 
propensity  is  revealed  in  the  shape  of  his  mouth;  the  man  of 
violence  is  surrendered  by  his  eyes.  An  experienced  detective 
policeman,  or  a  trained  jailer  seldom  needs  to  ask  the  crime  of 
which  the  prisoner  was  guilty.     He  can  tell  it  by  his  face. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  in  the  future  the  study  of  physiog- 
nomy is  going  to  be  pursued  more  vigorously  than  it  has  been. 
-\.s  a  means  of  preventing  crime  it  may  prove  invaluable.  How 
constantly  do  we  hear  of  men  "falling  from  grace,"  as  the 
phrase  goes.  Yet  these  men  musi  have  carried  their  crime  in 
their  faces  for  a  long  time.  If  any  one  had  been  able  to  read 
their  features  the  mischief  might  have  been  averted.  It  is  well 
known  that  every  man's  face  is  more  or  less  stamped  by  the 
pursuit  he  follows.  An  experienced  observer  can  generally 
detect  a  lawyer,  or  a  doctor,  or  a  merchant,  or  a  clerk,  or  a 
mechanic,  or  a  clergyman,  by  merely  studying  his  face. 

The  instinctive  criminal  is  a  social  parasite.  The  conclusion 
is  irresistible  that  he  is  organically  morbid.  He  will  proceed 
to  any  extreme,  and  life  and  property,  separating  him  from  the 
accomplishment  of  his  wishes,  are  but  barriers  to  be  overcome. 
The  occasional  criminal  is  largely  a  negafive  creature,  who 
yields  himself  when  temptation  and  the  stimulus  of  opportunity 
exceed  his  resistive  power.  The  habitual  and  ]irofessional  crim- 
inal represents  degree  rather  than  kind.  Criminality  is  to  him 
a  profession,  a  fine  art,  and  susceptible  of  division  into  special- 
ties. 


GRAFT  NATIONS  WOKtST  FOE  111 

Criminal  Heads  Not  Extraordinary. 

The  average  heads  of  criminals  and  those  of  ordinaiy  people 
probably  do  not  vary  much  in  size.  A  large  brain  does  not 
necessarily  indicate  great  intelligence  any  more  than  a  small 
one  mental  deficiencies,  this  being  true,  as  little  importance 
can  be  attached  to  the  weight  of  brains  of  criminals.  The 
weight  of  Oliver  Cromwell's  brain  was  83.29  ounces;  Lord 
Byron's,  79  ounces;  Cuvier's,  64  ounces;  Ruloff's  (a  thief  and 
murderer),  59  ounces;  adult  idiot's,  54.95  ounces;  Daniel  Web- 
ster's, 53.50  ounces,  and  Gambetta's,  that  of  the  size  of  ;' 
microcephalic  idiot. 

A  face  may  either  attract  or  repel;  its  lines  indicate  firm 
ness  and  decision,  or  weakness  and  sensuousness.  In  physiog- 
nomy may  be  traced  fineness  or  brutality,  surfeit  or  privation, 
gentleness  or  irascibility:  yet  from  a  consideration  of  the  face 
it  is  assuming  too  much  to  predicate  the  form  of  criminal  ten- 
dencies, if  any,  on  the  subject.  Criminal  physiognomy  is  not 
yet  an  exact  science.  The  practical  criminologist  regards  crim- 
inality as  bred  in  the  bone  and  born  in  the  flesh,  and  the  ethology 
of  crime  to  be  looked  for  chiefly  is  in  heredity  and  environment, 
using  the  word  environment  in  its  most  liberal  sense,  ante  and 
post-natal,  and  whatever  cause,  in  whatever  Avay,  that  exerts  a 
deleterious  influence  upon  nutrition  and  the  functions  of  or- 
ganic life,  voluntary  and  involuntary. 

Little  is  being  done  in  this  country  in  criminal  anthropology 
that  can  compare  with  the  studies  and  researches  that  are  being 
carried  on  in  Italy,  France,  and  Germany.  The  student  unac- 
quainted with  the  language  of  these  countries  pursues  his 
studies  at  a  disadvantage,  owing  to  the  paucity  of  literature  in 
English  upon  the  subject. 

The  tide  of  crime  is  steadily  rising.  The  level  of  criminality, 
it  is  well  known,  is  rising,  and  has  been  rising  during  the 
whole  of  the  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  centuries,  throughout 
the  civilized  world.  Its  prevention  and  euro  is  n  jierplexing 
study,  and  is  engaging  the  thoughts  and  energies  of  the  best 
intellects  of  the  world. 


DETECTIVE  CLIFTON  R.  WOOLDRIDGE'S 

"Never=FaiV'  System 

THE  ONLY  SURE  WAY  TO  BEAT: 

TURF  FRAUDS. 

WILD  CAT  INSURANCE. 

BOGUS  SECURITIES,  CONFIDENCE 
GAMES. 

CITY-LOT  SWINDLES. 

HOME-BUYING  SWINDLES. 

DISHONEST  DEBENTURE  BOND  COM- 
PANIES. 

FRAUDULENT  PROMOTERS. 

"SALTED"  MINING  AND  OIL  WELLS 
COMPANIES. 

BUCKET  SHOPS. 

BLIND  POOLS  IN  GRAIN  AND  STOCKS. 

PANEL  HOUSES. 

BOGUS  MAIL  ORDER  HOUSES. 

POKER,  FARO  AND  OTHER  GAMBLING 
GAMES. 

MATRIMONIAL  BUREAUS. 

COUNTERFEIT  UNDERWRITERS. 

FRAUDULENT  BOOK  CONCERNS. 

DISHONEST  COLLECTION  AGENCIES. 

ADULTERATED  MEDICINE  DEALERS. 

WIRE  TAPPERS. 

FAKE  BROKERS. 

BOGUS  CHARITIES. 

SPURIOUS  EMPLOYMENT  AGENCIES. 

SWINDLE  PROMOTERS. 

MUSHROOM  BANKS. 

CLAIRVOYANTS. 

FORTUNE  TELLERS.     ' 

PALMISTS. 

$1,000  REWARD  WILL  BE  PAIDTO  ANYONE 
WHO  USES  DETECTIVE  CLIFTON  R.  WOOL- 
DRIDGE'S NEVER-FAIL  SYSTEM  AND  FAILS 
TO  BEAT  THE  ABOVE  SWINDLES. 


"NEVEK  FAU:'  SYSTEM  113 


DO  NOT  RISK  YOUR  MONEY  WITHOUT  HAVING 
FIRST  CAREFULLY  INVESTIGATED  THE  CHARACTER 
OF  THE  ENTERPRISE  IN  WHICH  YOU  ARE  INVITED 
TO    BECOME    FINANCIALLY   INTERESTED. 

BE  CONVINCED  BEYOND  ALL  REASONABLE  DOUBT 
THAT  THE  MEN  CONNECTED  WITH  THE  ENTER- 
PRISE  ARE    ABOVE   SUSPICION. 

IF  THEIR  PROBITY,  INTEGRITY  OR  RELIABILITY 
CAN  NOT  BE  ESTABLISHED  BY  PAST  TRANSACTIONS 
IT  IS  CERTAIN  THEIR  HONESTY  WILL  NOT  BE  DIS- 
CLOSED   BY    FUTURE    DEALINGS. 

DO  NOT  INVEST  IN  ANY  COMPANY,  CORPORATION, 
OR  PRIVATE  CONCERN  UNTIL  THE  MANAGEMENT 
HAS  FURNISHED  INDISPUTABLE  PROOF  OF  ITS  ABIL- 
ITY TO   FULFILL   EVERY    PROMISE. 

LEAVE  SPECULATION  TO  THOSE  WHO  CAN  AF- 
FORD TO   LOSE. 

LARGE  GAINS  ON  SMALL  INVESTMENTS  USUALLY 
EXIST  ONLY  IN  THE  IMAGINATION  OF  GULLIBLE 
INVESTORS  AND   UNSCRUPULOUS   PROMOTERS. 

LARGE    RISKS    INCUR    LARGE    LOSSES. 

NO  MAN  WILL  "LET  YOU  INTO  A  GOOD  THING;" 
HE  WILL  KEEP  IT  FOR  HIMSELF  AND  HIS  FRIENDS. 

PROMOTERS  ARE  NOT  IN  BUSINESS  TO  MAKE 
MONEY   FOR   YOU,   BUT   "OUT    OF   YOU." 

CONTENT  YOURSELF  WITH  LEGITIMATE  INVEST- 
MENTS  AND   SMALL    BUT   SAFE    RETURNS. 

RATHER  THAN  SEEK  GREAT  PROFITS  WITHOUT 
TOIL  STRIVE  FOR  THE  DESERVED  FRUITS  OF  IN- 
DUSTRY. 

NO  MAN  WILL  GIVE  YOU  A  DOLLAR  FOR  FIFTY 
CENTS— UNLESS  THE   DOLLAR    IS   COUNTERFEIT. 

DO  NOT  PAY  OUT  YOUR  OWN  GOOD  MONEY  FOR 
ANOTHER    MAN'S    BOGUS    DOLLARS. 

IF  THE  PROMOTER  COULD  DO  ONE-HALF  OF  WHAT 
HE  CLAIMS,  HE  WOULD  NOT  NEED  YOUR  MONEY, 
BUT  SOON  WOULD  BE  RICH  BEYOND  THE  DREAMS 
OF  AVARICE. 

DO  NOT  INVEST  YOUR  HARD-WON  SAVINGS  IN 
VANISHING   AIR   CASTLES. 

PROMISES  WHICH  PROCEED  FROM  A  DESIRE  TO 
GET  YOUR  MONEY  ALWAYS  MERIT  SUSPICION.  SUB- 
JECT THEM  TO  THE  MOST  CAREFUL  AND  RIGID  EX- 
AMINATION. 

ADOPT  THE  BANKER'S  RULE  THAT:  "ALL  MEN 
SHOULD  BE  REGARDED  AS  DISHONEST  UNTIL  THEIR 
HONESTY  IS  PROVED,"  RATHER  THAN  THE  SUCK- 
ER'S THEORY  THAT  "ALL  MEN  ARE  HONEST." 


114  -NEVER  FAIL"  SYSTEM 


THE  BANKER  WILL  END  LIFE  POSSSESED  OF 
WEALTH  WHILE  THE  CREDULOUS  OPTIMIST  WHOSE 
FAITH  IS  UNBOUNDED  WILL  WIND  UP  HIS  DAYS  "A 
POORER   BUT   WISER   MAN." 

WHEN    IN    DOUBT   DO   NOTHING. 

IF  A  PROMOTER  CAN  NOT  DISPEL  YOUR  DOUBTS 
HE    IS   NOT  WORTHY   OF   YOUR   CONFIDENCE. 

DO  NOT  FOLLOW  SIREN  CHANCE.  SHE  WILL  LEAD 
YOU   INTO  THE  ABYSS  OF   DESPAIR. 

BEWARE  OF  THE  DICE;  THERE  IS  BUT  ONE  GOOD 
THROW  WITH  THEM— THROW  THEM  AWAY.  THEY 
WERE  USED  TO  CAST  LOTS  FOR  THE  BLOOD- 
STAINED GARMENTS  OF  JESUS  CHRIST;  THEY  ARE 
USED  TO   GAMBLE  AWAY  THE   HONOR  OF   MEN. 

PLAY  NOTHING,  INVEST  IN  NOTHING,  BUY  NOTH- 
ING, TRUST  NO  MAN  OR  WOMAN  UNTIL  YOU  HAVE 
REASON  TO  BELIEVE  THE  ENTERPRISE  IS  LEGITI- 
MATE  BEYOND   QUESTION. 

AVOID  THE  MISTAKE  OF  THAT  GREATEST  FOOL 
OF  ALL  FOOLS,  THE  MAN  WHO  THINKS  HE  IS  TOO 
SMART  TO   BE   FOOLED. 

YOU  ARE  NOT  SHREWD  ENOUGH  TO  BEAT  ANY 
MAN  AT  HIS  OWN  GAME;  HE  HAS  STUDIED  ITS  MA- 
NIPULATIONS;   YOU    ARE   A   NOVICE. 

DON'T  LET  ANYONE  STAMPEDE  YOU  INTO  DOING 
ANYTHING.  THE  "RUSH"  ACT  IS  A  FAVORITE  TRICK 
OF  GRAFTERS,  FROM  THE  CHEAP  CADGER  WHO  BOR- 
ROWS SMALL  CHANGE  TO  THE  INVESTMENT  BRO- 
KER WHO  OFFERS  AN  OPPORTUNITY  TO  RISK  A 
FORTUNE  IN  "THE  CHANCE  OF  A  LIFE-TIME"  THAT 
MUST  BE  SNAPPED  UP  IMMEDIATELY  OR  LOST  FOR- 
EVER. 

WHEN  A  MAN  TRIES  TO  HURRY  YOU  INTO  SPEND- 
ING YOUR  MONEY  PUT  IT  BACK  IN  YOUR  POCKET 
AND    KEEP    YOUR    HAND    ON    IT. 

USE  CAUTION,   REASON   AND  COMMON  SENSE. 

DO  UNTO  OTHERS  AS  YOU  WOULD  HAVE  THEM 
DO  UNTO  YOU.  MOST  OTHERS  WILL  "DO"  YOU  IF 
YOU    GIVE   THEM    A    CHANCE. 

IF  YOU  ARE  MARKED  AS  ONE  OF  THE  GEESE 
READY  FOR  PLUCKING  BY  GET-RICH-QUICK  SWIN- 
DLERS THEY  WILL  SEND  YOU  LITERATURE 
THROUGH  THE  MAILS.  SAVE  EVERY  CIRCULAR, 
LETTER  OR  OTHER  COMMUNICATION  TOGETHER 
WITH  THE  ENVELOPES  AND  SEND  THEM  TO  THE 
POSTOFFICE  INSPECTOR  IN  THE  TOWN  FROM 
WHICH  THEY  WERE  SENT. 

BE    SURE    TO    SEND   THE    ENVELOPES   WITH    THE 


'NEVER  EAIL"  SYSTEM 


115 


LITERATURE  AS  THE  COMMUNICATIONS  CANNOT 
BE  ADMITTED  AS  EVIDENCE  UNLESS  THE  ORIGINAL 
WRAPPERS  OR  ENVELOPES  IN  WHICH  THEY  WERE 
MAILED  ARE  OFERED  WITH  THEM.  THE  POST- 
MASTER WILL  INSTRUCT  HOW  TO  FORWARD  THE 
COMPLAINT. 

PROSECUTION  OF  THE  SWINDLERS  WILL  SURELY 
FOLLOW. 

IF  YOU  ARE  IN  DOUBT  ABOUT  THE  CHARACTER 
OF  THE  CONCERN  WHICH  INVITES  YOU  TO  INVEST 
YOUR  MONEY,  CONSULT  A  LAWYER.  BANKER  OR 
REPUTABLE    COMMERCIAL    AGENCY. 

Intending  investors  sinould  remember  that: 

"SURE  TIPS"  are  sure  bait  for  sure  fools. 

Wlien  you  hear  stocks  have  gone  up  and  men  who 
bought  them  cheap  have  sold  them  at  high  prices  and 
gained  fortunes  suspect  your  informant.  If  he  seeks  to 
induce  you  to  invest  be  assured  he  is  a  GET-RICH- 
QUICK   grafter. 

Many  swindlers  wear  the  garb  of  respectability;  they 
even  cloak  their  rascality  with  piety.  Many  men  accepted 
by  the  world  as  honorable  members  of  society  spend  their 
lives  living  on  the  credulity  of  the  ignorant,  and  when 
they  die  go  to  the  grave  followed  by  hordes  of  dupes  who 
mourn  their  end. 

These  swindlers  await  you  at  every  turn;  on  the  race- 
track; in  the  saloon;  with  the  poker  deck  and  the  ivory 
dice;  with  watered  stock  and  fraudulent  bonds;  with 
prayers  on  their  lips  and  designs  in  their  minds  to  defraud 
you. 

THERE  IS  NO  SUCH  THING  AS  AN  HONEST  GAM- 
BLER. 

Every  gambling  game  is  a  dishonest  scheme.  You  seek 
to  get  the  other  man's  money  without  giving  him  anything 
in  return. 

You  are  not  entitled  to  one  penny  unless  you  give  value 
in  return.  If  you  are  in  business  you  know  that  every 
promissory  note,  to  be  valid,  must  bear  on  its  face  two 
words,  "value    received." 

INDUSTRY,  ENERGY,  THRIFT!  These  are  the  dice 
that  win.     The   lesson  is   hard  to  learn  for  the  young. 

He  has  anxious  days  and  feverish  nights  who  risks  at 
chance  what  should  be  devoted  to  the  nobler  ends  of  life; 
who  "makes  throws"  on  the  green  cloth;  who  watches  the 
snake-like  tape  squirm  out  of  the  ticker;  or  gazes  at  a 
bunch  of  horses  running  around  a  ring. 

GIVE  IT  ALL  UP  AND  ADOPT  HONEST  MEANS  OF 
PROCURING   WEALTH! 


The  Best  Rules  for  Health,  Happiness  and  Success. 

THEY   ARE   WORTH    THE    ATTENTION    AND 
THOUGHT  OF  ALL  READERS. 


1.  Never  put  olT  until   tomorrow   what  you  can   do 

today. 

2.  Never  trouble  another  for  what  you  ean  do  your- 

self. 
.S.     Never  speud  your  money  helori'  you  hnw  earnuci 

it. 
I.      Xever  buy  what  you   don"t    want     l)t'causL'    it    is 

cheaj). 
0.     Pride  costs  more  than  hunger,  thirst  and  cold. 
().     We  seldom  repent  of  eating  too  little. 
;.     Nothing  is  troublesome  that  we  do  willingly. 
<s.     How  much  pain  the  evils  have  cost  us  that  have 

never  happened. 
!».     Take  things  always  by  the  smooth  liandle. 

10.  When  angry,  count  ten  before  you  speak ;  if  very 

angry,  count  a  hundred. 

11.  Watch  the  small  things. 

l:i.     Laziness  is  a  vice — fight  it. 

13.  Do  your  honest  best — it  pays. 

14.  Without  self-respect  you  cannot  gain   respect. 
I.-).     Trickery's  triumph  is  fleeting. 

16.  Remember  that  opportunity  waits  only  on  worth. 

17.  Cultivate  love,  loyalty  and  respect  for  work — es- 

pecially your  own  work. 

15.  It  is  not  enough  to  he  honest   and  lazy. 

1!>.     Try  to  keep  your   mind   clean — evil    and   success 

will  not  mix. 
•.'(I.      If  responsibility  confronts  you,  seize  it.      Do  not 

throw  it  aside — resjionsibility   represents  oppor- 

lunitv. 


HEALTH  AND  iSUCCEyS  117 

Some  of  these  sayings  will  strike  you  as  very  old  and  lacking 
in  novelty.  But,  old  as  these  rules  are,  human  beings  have  not 
yet  learned  to  follow  them.  And  they  won't  learn  for  many  a 
long  year. 

We  shall  not  moralize  about  them  all  today,  only  one  or  two 
we  want  to  emphasize. 

"■'Nothing  is  troublesome  that  we  do  willingly." 

If  you  work  willingly,  if  you  make  yourself  realize  that  will- 
ing effort  is  easy,  AND  THE  ONLY^KIND  THAT  MAKES 
YOU  GEOAV  AND  SUCCEED,  you  will  solve  one  of  your  big 
working  problems. 

Did  you  ever  see  a  small  boy  walking  ahead  of  a  band,  with 
the  music  playing? 

x\nd  did  you  ever  see  the  same  small  boy  walking  half  the  dis- 
tance to  get  a  newspaper  for  his  father?  Walking  with  the 
band  rests  him  ;  it  doesn't  tire  him  at  all,  BECAUSE  HE  DOES 
IT  WILLINGLY.  And  the  other  kind  of  walking  takes  the 
very  heart  out  of  him  and  makes  him  almost  too  tired  to  eat 
his  dinner. 

It  is  exactly  that  Avay  with  all  the  wbrk  we  do  in  this  world. 
When  you  do  things  willingly,  with  the  heart  and  the  nerves  and 
the  brain  acting  with  one  another  cheerfully,  work  is  easy  AND 
SUCCESS  FOLLOWS. 

A  willing  FOOL  may  lag  behind  an  unwilling  man  of  intelli- 
gence. But  even  a  willing  fool  is  happier  in  the  end  than  an 
unwilling  one,  and,  all  things  being  even,  the  employe  working 
WILLINGLY  will  cease  being  an  employe  and  have  others 
working  for  him  sooner  thjn  the  other  man. 

PRIDE  COSTS  MORE  THAN  HUNGER,  THIRST  AND 
COLD. 

This  applies  to  all  kinds  of  foolish  vanity.  It  applies  to  the 
young  man  who  never  does  anything,  BECAUSE  HE  IS  TOO 
PROUD  TO  DO  WHAT  HE  HAS  THE  CHANCE  TO  DO. 


118  HEALTH  AND  SUCCESS 

It  applies  to  men  and  women  wlio  scjuander  on  dress  and 
show  the  money  that  they  need  for  more  serions  purposes. 

It  applies  to  those  that  in  old  age  have  no  money  saved  up, 
BECAUSE  PRIDE  SPENT  THEIR  MONEY  AS  FAST  AS 
THEY  GOT  IT. 

The  pride  that  keeps  men  honest,  the  pride  that  makes  men 
truthful,  never  kept  a  man  hack  or  hurt  him. 

The  had  kind  of  pride  is  the  pride  which  can  be  described  as 
"the  coward's  pride.'"  ]\Ien  «are  foolishly  and  cowardly  proud 
BECAUSE  THEY  ARE  AFRAID  OF  WHAT  OTHER  MEN 
WILL  THINK.  Money  that  they  cannot  afford  tliey  spend 
helping  other  men  to  drink  too  much,  BECAUSE  THEY  ARE 
ASHAMED  TO  BE  THOUGHT  STINGY  OR  MEAN. 

Men  squander  in  keeping  up  a])iK'arances  money  that  should 
be  saved  for  another  day,  for  a  good  business  opportunity,  be- 
cause they  are  too  cowardly  to  be  guided  by  their  own  judgment, 
and  ignore  what  others  may  THINK  about  them. 

Self-respect  is  one  thing;  foolish  pride,  vanity,  moral  coward- 
ice, are  very  dili'erent.     Get  rid  of  them. 

All  the  advice  from  these  20  rules  is  good  advice.  The  man 
who  can  keep  his  temper  while  he  thinks — whether  he  count  ten 
or  a  million — is  a  lucky  man. 

A  man  in  a  rage  is  a  man  whose  BRAIN  IS  NO  LONGER 
WORKING.  And  the  man  whose  brain  isn't  working  is  at  tbe 
mercy  of  the  man  whose  brain  IS  working. 

Worry  about  the  FUTURE  troubles  is  a  curse  with  many 
men.    It  prevents  their  working  well  TODAY. 

Overeating,  and  especially  eating  at  the  wrong  lime,  is  a  great 
evil  in  this  country.  If  men  woidd  learn  to  eat  heartily  only 
when  their  day's  work  is  done,  WHEX  THEIR  MINDS  MUST 
NO  LONGER  BE  CONCENTRATED.  THEY  WILE  SAVE 
THEIR  STOMACHS  AND  A(X^O^IPLISH  TWICE  THE 
AMOUNT  OF  WOIU\  IN  THEIR  LIVES. 

Read  these  rules  over,  and  moralize  on  tlu'in  Wn-  yoursolvi's 
and  for  vour  children. 


COINING  CUPID'S  WILES. 


How    Matrimonial   Agencies   Prey   on    the   Public — Their 

Degeneration  Into  the  Worst 

Forms  of  Crime. 

$1,000,000    Secured   by    These    Get-Rich-Quick    Schemers 

Discovered  by  Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge, 

Chicago's  Famous  Police  Detective. 

125  matrimonial  agencies  in  Chicago  raided  and  closed 
in  the  last  five  years. 

4,500,000  matrimonial  letters  seized  and  destroyed. 

1,500,000  matrimonial  agencies'  stock  letters  seized  and 
destroyed. 

1,400,000  matrimonial  stock  photographs  seized  and  de- 
stroyed. 

500,000  photographs  sent  to  the  matrimonial  agencies  by 
men  and  women  who  were  seeking  their  affinities  seized 
and  destroyed. 

40  wagon  loads  of  matrimonial  literature  seized  and 
destroyed. 

One  of  the  most  insidious  forms  of  crime  is  the  Matrimonial 
Agency.  Seemingly  harmless,  or  at  most  merely  foolish,  is 
the  Matrimonial  Agency  at  its  inception. 

But  step  by  step  within  the  past  few  years  we  have  seen 
the  Matrimonial  Agency  turned  into  a  volcano  belching  forth 
fraud,  swindling,  bigamy,  desertion,  and  finally  ghastly  whole- 
sale murder. 

We  have  seen  the  Matrimonial  Agency  sweep  the  whole  range 
of  the  world  of  crime  from  the  petty  thieving  of  a  Carson  to 
the  almost  unbelievable  horrors  of  the   Gunness  Farm. 


120 


MAI'KIMOXIAI,  .UiBNTS 


THE  SORROWS  OF  CUPID 

"H«  Dow  Not  Stf  All  the  Rocks  AJi*»d  Whm  Hf  Ihintr  r^^■<^  Yoong  People  Togcthtr"—Bc»lnr*  Fnirfkx, 


COINING  CUPID'S  WILES  121 

And  this  monster  is  hydra-headed.  Stamp  it  out  in  one 
place  and  it  immediately  reappears  in  another.  Send  a  ''man- 
ager" to  prison  once,  twice,  ten  times,  and  the  minute  the 
prison  doors  are  open  he  is  back  at  the  old  stand  doing  business. 

Something  of  the  tremendous  efforts  being  put  forth  to 
stamp  out  this  evil  may  be  gained  from  the  headlines  of  this 
story,  where  the  strenuous  work  of  Detective  AVooldridge  of 
Chicago  is  summarized. 

Chicago  has  been  an^  is  today  infested  by  a  formidable  com- 
munity of  matrimonial  agencies  who  invade  all  ranks  of  life. 
They  promote  many  specious  schemes  to  lure  the  elusive  dollar 
from  the  pockets  of  unwary  victims.  These  operatives  are 
sharp,  smooth  and  unscrupulous — the  most  dangerous  of 
criminal  perverts. 

Were  the  census  enumerators  of  the  United  States  to  compile 
a  list  of  the  "sucker"  public  the  gullible  ones  would  aggregate 
tens  of  millions.  There  is  not  a  township  in  this  great  nation 
that  does  not  contain  its  portion  of  confiding  persons  who  are 
ready  to  believe  anything,  from  the  rankest  catch-penny  ad- 
vertisement to  a  fallacy  in  theological  dogma. 

They  are  Avilling  to  open  up  their  hearts  to  unknown  matri- 
monially inclined  correspondents;  to  accept  as  gospel  the  in- 
credible statements  of  impostors  and  to  pay  out  money  gained 
by  hard  toil  for  something  which  the  reason  of  a  child  should 
tell  them  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  man  to  provide. 

They  are  easy  prey  alike  to  religious  and  political  impostor?; 
and  unscrupulous  adventurers.  Investigations  for  years  past 
into  the  innermost  secrets  of  swindlers,  and  the  observations 
incidental  to  official  experience  disclosing  how  victims  are 
drawn  into  the  net  -of  the  grafter,  impel  the  belief  that  the 
faith  of  many  persons  passes  beyond  the  bounds  of  credulity 
into  the  domain  of  imbecility. 

Men  and  women  who  are  engaged  in  promoting  matrimonial 
agencies  are  guilty  of  crime.  It  is  opposed  to  the  fundamental 
principles  of  society.     Such  a  practice  should  under  no  circum- 


V4'^  MATKIMOMAL   A(iE.NT.S 

stances  be  tolerated.     It  is  inconsistent  with  the  highest  ideals 
of  what  should  constitute  the  proper  marriage  relations. 

Human  Derelicts  Are  Dupes. 
Human  derelicts  of  a  low  mental  caliber  are  the  dupes  of 
these  matrimonial  agencies.  Few  people  know  that  such 
schemes  as  these  are  carried  out.  Few  know  that  advertise- 
ments bv  men  of  wealth,  women  of  culture  and  pretty  widows 
who  seek  matrimonial  alliances  are  merely  means  by  which 
scoundrels  get  a  revenue. 

Matrimonial  Agents'  ^Methods. 

To  describe  adequately  the  technicalities  of  the  marriage 
agencies  and  bureau  swindlers'  methods  would  be  impossible 
without  presenting  actual  copies  of  documents  necessary  to  the 
system.  Early  in  the  investigations  the  discovery  was  made 
that  the  scores  of  matrimonial  agencies,  '"introduction  bu- 
reaux" and  "marriage  clubs''  were  using  practically  the  same 
literature.  Few^  departed  from  the  stereotyped  plan  for  "pull- 
ing the  suckers  on."  For  the  most  part  the  prospectuses  and 
"follow-up"  letters  were  identical. 

As  often  happened,  however,  when  a  victim  was  "landed 
right"  and  ventured  to  Chicago  from  his  distant  rural  retreat 
j)repared  to  carry  out  in  earnest  the  game  that  had  been  worked 
upon  him  in  a  spirit  of  mercenary  recklessness,  the  methods  of 
handling  him  were  varied  in  respect  to  both  finesse  and  ef- 
fectiveness. 

Any  person  familiar  with  the  uses  of  the  typewriter  easily 
could  have  discovered  tliat  the  "personal"  letters  received  from 
time  to  time  were  nothing  more  than  circulars  printed  by  the 
thousands.  So  vast  was  the  number  of  the  gullible  that  seldom, 
if  ever,  was  an  actual,  ])ona  fide  letter  sent  in  reply  to  those 
from  the  victims. 

Space  was  left  at  the  top  of  the  stock  letters  for  the  insertion 
of  the  name  of  the  person  to  whom  it  was  sent.  In  their  haste 
the  swindlers  often  begrudged  the  time  necessary  to  change  the 


COim>s'Ci   CIPID'S  WILE8 


123 


124 


MATiUMONlAL  AGENTS 


OOININCI  CUPID'S  AVLLES  125 

"Dear  Sir"  to  "Dear  Miss"  or  "''Dear  j\tadam"'  when  a  womau 
was  addressed  on  stationery  intended  for  male  clients. 

Xo  Trust  Here. 

The  general  uniformity  of  the  literature  was  at  first  thought 
by  me  to  indicate  that  the  matrimonial  agencies  were  banded 
together  in  a  gigantic  trust.  But  later  I  learned  that  as  they 
increased  in  number  the  newcomers  exhibited  conscienceless 
audacity  in  copying  the  forms  used  by  their  predecessors.  It 
was  also  found  in  some  eases  several  matrimonial  agencies 
were  operated  from  one  address  and  one  or  two  men,  or  a  man 
and  his  wife  would  represent  half  a  dozen  concerns  by  chang- 
ing names  and  locations  every  thirty  or  sixty  days.  Because 
of  these  facts  and  the  added  fact  that  whoever  compiled  the 
original  forms  from  which  the  others  copied,  realized,  he  was  in 
an  allegitimate  business,  the  plagiarists  were  never  prosecuted. 
Thus  the  buncombe  administered  to  the  suckers  became  uni- 
form in  phraseology. 

If  a  person  desired  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure  for  gain- 
ing wealth  and  marital  bliss  and  he  applied  to  several  agencies 
at  the  same  time,  the  same  mail  would  bring  him  letters  from 
each  matrimonial  agency  with  which  he  communicated,  worded 
identically.  They  would  be  mimeograph  copies,  and  the  only 
difference  in  their  appearance  would  be  in  the  printed  heading 
indicating  the  name  of  the  agency.  The  name  of  the  recipient 
would  often  be  written  at  the  top  in  ink  different  in  color  from 
the  body  of  the  letter. 

Working  the  Double  Cross. 

The  usual  beginning  is  a  small  subscription  fee  paid  for  a 
'^matrimonial"  paper.  This  paper  contains  alleged  descrip- 
tions of  men  afid  women,  ])rineipally  the  latter,  who  are  claimed 
by  the  publisher  to  be  seeking  wives  or  husbands  through,  the 
matrimonial  agency.  The  subscriber  who  becomes  interested 
in  anv  of  the  descriptions  is  made  to  pay  n  fee  for  more  de- 


1-4^  MATliiMUMAL  AUEM\S 

tailed  information  and  alleged  record  of  the  linancial  circum- 
stances of  the  person.  There  is  sometimes  an  additional  fee 
for  a  photograph.  This  picture  may  or  may  not  he  one  of 
the  person  described,  but  that  matters  little.  Almost  any  old 
photograph  will  serve  the  purpose.  In  all  the  raids  made  on 
matrimonial  agencies  collections  of  photographs  have  been 
found. 

That  tens  of  thousands  of  otherwise  intelligent  men  and 
women  should  either  entrust  pictures  of  tliemsolves  to  an 
agency  by  which  it  is  to  be  sent  out  to  unknown  persons,  or 
should  even  begin  such  negotiations  as  those  carried  on  through 
the  matrimonial  agency,  is  incomprehensible. 

The  money  derived  in  the  aggregate  from  subscriptions  to 
the  matrimonial  paper,  the  fees  for  particulars  and  those  for 
photographs  and  miscellaneous  "services"  amount  to  large 
sums.  With  many  of  the  agencies  the  services  stop  at  this  point, 
but  many  others  undertake  personal  introductions  of  lonesome 
maids  and  widows  to  the  invariably  "^'honest  and  affectionate"' 
Ijjiehelors  and  widowers,  and  when  this  is  done  tliere  are  other 
fees,  depending  altogether  on  how  much  the  victims  appear 
to  be  willing  to  stand. 

A  large  number  have  been  found  and  suppressed  in  which 
there  was  but  one  lonesome  maid  or  widow  and  one  honest 
and  affectionate  bachelor  or  widower,  the  former  being  the 
woman  accomplice  of  the  manager  of  the  agency  and  the  latter 
the  manager  himself.  They  answer  love-lorn  correspondents 
of  both  sexes  and  select  for  victims  those  believed  to  have  the 
most  money.  If  the  assistant  to  the  manager  is  posing  as  the 
possible  bride  in  the  case  the  Avife  hunter  must  make  satisfac- 
tory settlements  with  the  manager  for  conducting  the  nego- 
tiations, and  this  amount,  with  that  whidi  tlie  accomplice  is 
able  to  secure  from  the  victim,  amounts  often  to  a  considerable 
sum.  After  the  victim  is  sej)arated  frojii  Ins  moiH>y  something 
happens  to  prevent  the  liap])y  conclusion  of  the  marriage 
negotiations. 


COINING  CUPID'S  WILES  IJiT 

Two  Well-Defined  For]\[s. 

Therfi  are  two  well-flefniprl  forinp  of  the  "matrimonial  agont." 
The  one  is  the  man  who  openly  runs  an  agency,  who  advertises 
"golden-haired  young  ladies,  worth  half  a  million  dollars," 
•'blue-eyed  widows  of  languishing  temperaments"  and  "wealthy 
farmers."  It  is  through  this  class  of  "bureau"  that  the  great 
crimes  of  the  matrimonial  business  have  been  engineered.  Hocir, 
^Irs.  Gunness,  Holmes  and  other  arch-criminals  made  good 
use  of  this  type. 

The  other  type  is  just  the  plain  swindler.  The  man  who 
works  along  the  secondary  lines,  as  they  may  be  called,  would 
scorn  to  be  a  matrimonial  agent.  He  is  either  a  reverend  gen- 
tleman of  the  cloth,  a  minister  to  whom  some  languishing 
widow  is  looking  for  spiritual  direction,  and  he  thinks  that  she 
"needs  she  should  get  married,"  to  quote  the  East  Side  phrase- 
ology; or  he  is  a  lawyer  who  has  a  wealthy  client,  who,  not 
being  a  business  woman,  is  incapable  of  running  her  own  af' 
fairs,  and  he  again  thinks  of  marriage  as  a  solution ;  or,  again, 
he  is  "an  employment  agency."  This  secondary  type  is  gener- 
ally a  cheap  sort,  grafting  on  the  gullible  for  five  or  ten  dollars, 
or  even  as  high  as  $100. 

CONCRETE   EXAMPLES. 
Type  No.  1. 

September  8,  1905,  John  H.  Harris,  168  Hamlin  avenue, 
editor  and  publisher  of  The  Pilot,  a  marriage  agency  paper, 
and  manager  of  a  cheap  mail  order  house,  was  raided  and  ar- 
rested by  Detective  Wooldridge. 

Among  the  letters  seized  were  complaints  from  his  patrons. 
They  received  no  returns  for  money  paid  him,  and  averred  his 
paper  was  being  used  to  blackmail  men  and  women.  Com- 
plaints were  also  made  that  many  of  the  names  which  ap- 
peared in  the  paper  were  not  authorized,  and  other  names 
attached  to  the  order  were  forgeries. 

The  following  is  the  copy  of  a  letter  dated  September  1, 


128  MATKIMONIAJL  AGENTS 

1906,  and  is  only  one  among  hundreds  of  others  sent  out  by 
the  thousands  by  Harri?;.  Many  more  thousands  were  sent 
tlirough  the  mail  to  his  sub-agents,  who  worked  on  a  commis- 
sion. This  agent  employed  other  agents,  who  started  an  end- 
less chain  by  copying  the  letter  and  having  the  friends  do 
likewise. 

Chicago,    111..    Sept.    1.    100."). 
Dear   Sir: 

We  have  a  very  recent  application  from  a  brown-eyed  widow 
of  41,  medium  size,  musical,  has  no  children.  She  informs  us 
that  she  has  recently  come  into  possession  of  a  fortune  of 
over  FIVE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  DOLLARS,  and  that 
she  wishes  to  marry  an  honest,  affectionate  {jentleman.  We 
also  have  a  recent  application  from  a  pretty,  blue-eyed  lady  of 
20,  who  estimates  her  present  means  at  FORTY  THOUSAND 
DOLLARS,  and  her  inheritance  at  twenty  thousand  dollars. 
Her  form  is  graceful,  her  education  good,  her  disposition  gentle 
and  she  desires  a  steady,  honest  luisband.  We  believe  she 
would  start  her  husband  in  business.  And  to  accommodate 
those  ladies  and  quicklv  find  a  husband  for  them  we  make  the 
following  SPECIAL  OFFER: 

Fill  out  the  coupon  at  the  bottom,  and  send  it  to  us  with 
one  dollar  (and  six  postage  stamps)  and  enclose  a  sealed  and 
stamped  letter  to  either  or  both  of  the  ladies  referred  to  above. 
We  will  immediately  mail  your  letter  to  the  lady  or  ladies, 
and  place  your  name  on  our  books,  and  send  yo»i  a  certificate 
of  membership  for  six  months,  and  send  you  the  full  names 
and  addresses  of  the  handsome  widow  of  means,  and  the  hand- 
some blue-eyed  maiden  of  means,  and  also  send  you  a  list 
of  names  and  addresses  of  other  ladies  of  means  and  other- 
wise. And  until  you  are  married,  or  until  the  end  of  six 
months,  we  will,  on  or  about  the  first  of  each  month,  mail  you 
a  list  of  descriptions,  names  and  addresses  of  ladies  of  means 
and  otherwise,  without  application  from  you  or  any  expense 
to  you.  We  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  either  of  the 
ladies  mentioned  above  would  make  you  a  good  wife,  but  if 
they  do  not  meet  your  approval  you  can  select  one  who  will 
from  the  stream  of  ladies  of  means  and  otherwise  who  are  con- 
stantly requesting  us  to  secure  husbands  for  them,  which  en- 
ables us  to  introduce  you  to  those  whom  you  would  be  pleast^l 
to  meet  with  a  view  to  marriage.         Faithfully  yours. 

.loiiN   H.   Harri.s, 
Pub.  of  The  Pilot. 
.Ton.N  II.  Harri.s, 
Chicago,    111. 
Dear  Sir: 

I    heiewith    enclose   $1.12   as    full    payment    on    the    above   oflfer. 

Name    Postottice    

Street,  or  Rox   No State    

United  States  Inspector  of  Mails  at  Chicago  PostofTicc  H. 
W.  McAfee  compolled  John  H.  Harris  to  furnish  him  with 
the  names  and, addresses  of  the  two  women  heiress<^s  who  were 


COlNJNli   CUPID'S  WILES 


12d 


worth  $40,000  and  $500,000,  respectively,  who  were  just  dying 
for  the  want  of  a  good,  kind  husband  to  spend  their  money 
for  them,  and  were  seeking  marriage  through  his  paper  and 
matrimonial  agency. 


130  MATEIMONIAL  AGENTS 

Harris  gave  the  name  of  Mrs.  H.  E.  Adams,  at  Hunt- 
ington, Md.,  as  the  $40,000  woman  and  Jennie  Ziehler,  Law- 
rence, Mass.,  as  the  $500,000  woman.  Upon  investigation 
it  was  found  that  neither  of  the  women  was  worth  a  dollar. 
The  $500,000  woman  Avas  in  the  insane  asylum. 

This  letter,  together  with  The  Pilot,  marriage  paper  and  its 
printed  advertisements,  was  plainly  intended  to  draw  the  un- 
wary and  deprive  the  ignorant  of  their  savings. 

John  H.  Harris  then  appealed  to  ex-Mayor  Edward  F. 
Dunne  of  Chicago,  under  the  alias  of  A.  Ingird,  taxpayer, 
citizen  and  reputable  business  man,  to  have  Detective  Wool- 
dridge  stopped  from  further  interfering  with  him  or  his  busi- 
ness. Men  who  operate  these  frauds  pretend  to  be  honest  and 
high-minded;  by  constant  practice  of  their  wiles  upon  others 
they  develop  self-deception  and  come  to  believe  in  their  own 
honesty  to  such  an  extent  that  when  questioned  they  assume  a 
good  counterfeit  of  honest  indignation. 

Mayor  Dunne  upon  investigation  learned  the  large  mass  of 
evidence  gathered,  and  ordered  the  investigation  to  go  forward, 
which,  resulted  in  the  arrest  and  holding  over  of  Jolin  H. 
Harris  to  the  Grand  Jury. 

Commits  Suicide. 

These  complaints  and  evidence  were  turned  over  to  Colorcl 
James  Stuart,  Chief  Inspector  of  the  Mails  at  the  Chicago 
Postoffice,  for  further  investigation.  A  fraud  order  was  re- 
quested. On  August  18,  1907,  Mr.  Harris  committed  suicide 
by  blowing  out  his  brains  at  168  N.  Hamlin  avenue,  Chicago, 
Hlinois,  after  the  mask  had  been  pulled  off  and  his  methods 
<'xposed. 

One  is  unable  to  state  whether  John  H.  Harris  is  opening 
ji  mail  order  house,  paper  and  marriage  agency  in  the  other 
world.  When  he  left  he  did  not  leave  word  where  he  would 
make  his  next  stop,  but  if  he  went  to  the  other  world,  we  arc 
not  informed  Dial  wireless  telegrapli  or  l)alloon  companies  havo 


COmiKG  CUPID'S  WILES  131 

as  yet  perfected  the  lines  of  transportation  or  communication. 

Harris  is  a  fairly  representative  and  concrete  expression  of 

the    regulation    matrimonial    agent.       It    was    through    such 

agencies  as  his  that  the  gfeat  crimes  eventually  were  pulled  off. 

Secondary  Types. 

But  in  the  following  letters  we  have  an  excellent  example  of 

the  second  type,  the  little  grafter  who  wants  anything  you  can 

give,  from  $5  to  $100.     From  the  text  of  the  letters  it  will 

be  observed  that  this  man  Avas  operating  as  a  minister,  a  lawyer 

and  an  employment  agency  at  one  and  the  same  time,  as  the 

letters  are  all  from  one  source. 

In  the  case  of  the  lawyer  this  scoundrel  was  trading  upon 
the  name  of  Edward  H.  Morris,  one  of  the  foremost  colored 
attorneys  of  the  United  States,  a  man  universally  respected 
and  admired  by  men  in  all  walks  of  life.  When  the  fact  of 
this  trading  on  his  name  was  brought  to  the  real  attorney's 
attention  he  was  furious,  and  he  cheerfully  gave  all  the  as- 
sistance in  his  power  to  Detective  Wooldridge. 

This   smooth  one  was  afterAvard  arrested  in  New   Orleans, 
convicted  and  sent  to  prison  for  a  term. 
Here  follows  the  text  of  the  letters: 
Matrimonial  Agencies'  Stock  Letters  Under  the  Guise 
OF  Ministry. 
Eev.  Joseph  Spencer, 
80  Madison  Street. 
Manager  of  American  Book   Concern. 
Dealer  in  Eeligious  Books. 

Chicago,  111.,  July  26,  1905. 
Mr.  O.  W.  Zink, 
Marshall,  Mo. 
Dear  Sir: 

For  many  years  I  have  been  a  MINISTER  of  the  GOSPEL 
and  during  that  time  I  have  not  only  performed  hundreds  of 
marriages,  but  have  arranged  many,  and  there  are  at  the 
present  time  among  my  acquaintances  some  half  dozen  wealthy 
ladies,  ranging  in  age  from  twenty  to  forty  or  fifty  years,  one 
of  whom  is  the  handsome  widow  whose  photo  I  enclose  here- 
with. 

She  is  worth,  in  actual  cash  and  negotiable  securities,  fully 


132  MATEIMOXIAL  AGENTS 


$50,000.  inherited  from  her  worthy  husband,  who  departed 
this  life  a  year  ago  and.  as  she  is  without  friends,  relatives 
or  children,  her  physician,  a  friend  of  mine,  has  on  account 
of  her  utter  loneliness  advised  her  to  marry,  believing  that 
marriage  and  change  of  scene  will  prove  for  her  a  blessing  in 
disguise,  and  naturally  she  has  turned  to  me,  her  spiritual 
adviser,  in  whom  she  has  the  utmost  confidence.  I  have  sev- 
eral times  talked  the  matter  over  with  her,  and,  knowing  that 
she  is  very  much  averse  to  advertising,  I  have  undertaken  to 
introduce  to  her  some  gentleman  who  would  make  her  a  good 
husband,  and  to  arrange  a  marriage  for  her. 

As  her  physician  thinks  it  advisable  for  her  to  reside  else- 
where than  Chicago,  I  have  been  somewhat  perplexed  as  to 
how  to  secure  for  her  a  suitable  introduction  and  in  my 
dilemma  consulted  a  matrimonial  agency  and,  after  several 
conferences  with  them,  I  have  decided  to  submit  for  your  kind 
consideration  my  proposition  and  manner  of  procedure.  1 
have  studied  the  matter  carefully,  have  gone  thoroughly  into 
your  description  and  instructions  as  filed  with  the  agency  of 
which  you  are  a  member,  and  in  my  mind  there  is  not  the 
slightest  doubt  as  to  you  two  proving  mutually  suitable  to 
each  other.  Of  course,  you  cannot  form  the  proper  idea  of  her 
from  the  small  photo  enclosed,  but  in  age,  appearance,  circum- 
stances, etc.,  she  is  just  what  you  have  been  seeking  in  a  wife. 

She  is  in  every  respect  a*  thoroughly  good  woman,  unusually 
bright  and  intelligent,  but  knows  nothing  of  business,  and 
is  in  absolute  need  of  a  husband  to  look  after  her  affairs, 
but.  TO  BE  CANDID  WITH  YOU,  I  am  getting  along  in 
years,  and  have  a  large  family  to  support  and,  as  I  only  ar- 
range a  few  marriages  at  intervals,  I  must  necessarily  have 
compensation    adequate    to    the   service    I    render. 

Now,  I  can,  by  recommending  you  personally,  cause  her  to 
enter  into  a  correspondence  with  you  that  will  undoubtedly 
lead  to  your  marriage,  if  you  are  still  desirous  of  such  a 
marriage,  as  I  presume  you  are,  from  the  fact  that  you  are 
registered  with  a  matrimonial  agency.  I  will,  for  the  con- 
sideration of  $100,  introduce  you  to  her  by  letter  and.  after 
you  have  exchanged  three  or  four  letters,  will  have  you  visit 
iier  at  her  expense,  as  you  may  mutually  agree,  if  you  will 
follow    my    simple    instructions. 

I  am  not  making  you  this  proposition  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment,  for  I  have  spent  mucli  time  and  thought  before  de- 
ciding to  write  vou.  and  all  I  ask  is  that.  AS  AN  EVIDENCE 
OF  YOUR  COOD  FAITH  and  to  cover  the  immediate  ex- 
pense necessary  thereto  on  my  part  (such  as  asking  her  to 
dinner  with  me  a  few  times  in  order  that  I  may  during  the 
good  cheer  tliat  abounds  at  such  times  dwell  at  length  upon 
the  matter  without  any  unnecessary  <lelay).  that  you  enclose 
me  immediatelv  ujwn  receipt  of  this  letter  BANK  DRAFT, 
KECxISTEUED  LETTER,  or  EXPRESS  MONEY  ORDER. 
for  $10:  the  balance.  $00.  you  need  not  pay  me  until  after 
you  have  married  her  and  assumed  the  manngt<nient  of  her 
affairs.  Upon  receipt  of  this  small  amount.  $10.  I  will  ab- 
solutely guarantee  your  marriage  to  her  within  sixty  days  and. 
if  before  that  time  you  shoiild  feel  that  you  do  not  care  to 
pursue  the  matter  to  a  conclusion.  I  will  positively  refund 
vour  money  upon  mv  honor  as  a  MINISTER  OF  THE 
GOSPEL. 

My   standinc  in    my   profession   is  such   thRt   T  conld  not   do 


I 


OOININU  CUPID'^  WILES  133 

otherwise  and,  as  I  have  stated  before,  there  are  several  ladies 
to  whom  I  could  introduce  you,  now  that  I  have  really  taken 
the  matter  up  with  you,  but  I  consider  you  two  really  suited 
to  each  other,  so  will  not  go  into  further  particulars.  Trust- 
ing  to  hear  from  you  AT  THE  VERY  EARLIEST  POS- 
SIBLE MOMENT,  I  am,  with  assurance  of  my  regards. 
Very  respectfully. 

Wanted  a  Etch  Husband. 

Cedar  Rapids,    Iowa, 
Rev.  .Joseph  Spencer.  July  15.  1905. 

80   Madison    Street, 
Chicago,   111. 
Dear   Sir: 

You  asked  me  in  your  letter  to  give  you  a  description  of 
the  man  that  I  would  like  to  become  acquainted  with.  I  wish 
him  to  be  as  tall  as  I  am.  to  have  dark  hair  and  a  very  good 
disposition.  I  would  like  him  to  be  rich.  His  age  to  be 
about  45  years,  also  have  a  good  education.  I  want  him  to 
be  a  temperate  man,  and  to  have  a  nice  appearance,  one  who 
is  lovely  at  home,  and  does  not  care  for  society  and  likes  music. 
I  do  not  care  what  his  occupation  is  if  he  is  honest. 
Hoping  to  hear  from  you  soon,  I  remain 
Y'ours    truly. 

Miss  Vernie  Adams. 

Rev.   .Joseph   Spencer.  Oshkosh,   Wis.,   July   20,   1905. 

Chicago,    Illinois. 
Dear  Sir: 

You  asked  me  in  your  letter  to  give  you  a  description  of 
myself,  which  I  take  pleasure  in  doing:  I  am  a  young  man 
26  years  of  age,  5  feet  6  inches  tall,  weigh  140  pounds ;  blue 
eyes,  red  hair ;  I  am  strictly  temperate,  do  not  gamble ;  kind 
disposition,  a  farm  hand ;  have  no  means ;  income  $15  per 
month. 

I  would  be  delighted  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  several 
of  your  prospective  rich  women  who  are  seeking  a  husband. 
Send  me  a  list  of  those  who  are  worth  from  $50,000  to  $75,000. 
also  their  photographs,  whereby  I  can  make  a  selection,  and  I 
will  send  you  your  fee  of  $5.  I  remain. 
Sincerely   yours. 

Thomas  Flinn. 

Matrimonial  Agency  Under  the  Guise  of  an  Attorney- 

at-Law. 

Edward  Morris^ 

Attorney-at-Law. 

82   Madison   Street. 

Trusts   and    Estates   a   Specialty. 

Me.  Geo.  Ferlin,  Chicago,  111..  Jan.  4,  1905. 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
Dear   Sir: 

I  have  during  my  professional  career  arranged  many  mar- 
riages   for    ladies    of    means,    and    at    the   present    time    have 


134  MATRIMONIAL  AGENTS 

among  my  clients  some  ten  or  twelve  weathy  ladies,  ranging 
in  age  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  years,  desirous  of  marriage, 
one  of  whom  is  the  charming  widow  whose  likeness  I  herewith 
enclose. 

She  is  worth  $60,000  (.$25,000  in  ready  cash,  the  balance  in 
high-class  tangible  property  inherited  from  her  mother,  recently 
deceased).  She  is  alone  and  childless  and  her  physician,  on 
account  of  her  bereavement,  has  recommended  a  marriage  and 
change  of  scene,  and  in  her  dilemma  she  has  consulted  me,  her 
legal  adviser,  and  I.  in  turn,  without  her  knowledge,  appealed 
to  a  matrimonial  agency  with  which  I  have  for  several  years 
had  business   relations   in  a   professional   way. 

Out  of  the  several  names  submitted  to  me  I  have,  after 
much  thought  and  deliberation,  selected  yours,  and  I  beg  that 
you  will  consider  carefully  my  proposition  and  the  fact  that 
I  am  not  in  business  for  my  health,  but  for  revenue,  to- 
gether with  a  desire  to  please  my  clients  and  to  give  them 
value   received. 

This  lady,  while  unusually  bright  and  intelligent,  knows 
little  of  the  ways  of  the  world,  and  nothing  of  business,  and, 
to  be  candid  with  you,  needs  a  husband  to  manage  her  estates, 
and  I  can,  by  recommending  you  personally,  cause  her,  through 
me  as  her  attorney,  to  open  negotiations  with  you  for  a  mar- 
riage ;  so  if  you  desire  a  wealthy  wife,  as  I  presume  you  do 
from  the  fact  that  you  are  registered  with  a  matrimonial 
agency,  I  will,  for  the  consideration  of  .$100  introduce  you 
to  her,  have  you  visit  her  at  her  expense,  as  you  may  mutually 
agree,  and  will  absolutely  guarantee  your  marriage  to  her 
within  sixty  days,  if  you  will  follow  my  instructions  to  the 
letter. 

All  that  I  ask  is,  as  an  evidence  of  your  good  faith  and  to 
cover  the  immediate  clerical  expenses  necessary  thereto,  you 
enclose  me  immediately  upon  receipt  of  this  letter.  BANK 
DRAFT  OR  MONEY  ORDER  for  $10,  the  balance  (.$90) 
to  be  paid  after  marriage,  and  when  I  have  caused  her  to 
place  in  your  hands,  or  under  your  control,  a  goodly  portion 
of   her   worldly   possessions. 

Now.  if  you  wish  to  accept  my  proposition,  enclose  me  im- 
mediately the  small  retaining  fee  ($10)  and  promise  me  that 
you  will  follow  carefully  my  instructions ;  otherwise  do  not 
Avrite  me,  as  I  positively  will  not  enter  into  further  corres- 
pondence until  you  have  engaged  me  as  your  attorney  upon 
the  lines  I  have  laid  down. 

If  before  the  end  of  sixty  days  you  feel  that  you  do  not 
care  to.  pursue  the  matter  to  a  conclusion  I  will  refund  your 
money.  My  standing  as  an  attorney  is  ample  evidence  that 
I  will  faithfully  carry  out  my  contract.  Remember  that  I 
have  among  my  clients,  as  I  have  stated  before,  ten  or  twelve 
wealthy  ladies  to  my  certain  knowledge  desirous  of  marriage. 

Awaiting  your  immediate  reply,    I  am 

Sincerely  and  professionally  yours, 

Edward  Morris. 

Edward  Morris.  Attorney-at-Law. 

Mr.  Geo.  Fert.tn,  Chicago.   Til..  .Tan.   11.   1905. 

Los  Angeles.    Cal. 
Dear  Sir: 

Your  letter  in  reply  to  mine  received,  and  I  will  say,  that 
as   a   leadinsr   attorney,   and   a    prominent   member  of  the   bar, 


COINING  CUPID'S  WILES 
OH!    OH!!    OH!!! 


135 


AWful,  CUWSTEBUATIOM  AT  i-iKES  CROSSING!    DIRECTORY  GOV/ K  IK  TOWN.  BY  JIMMINEDOVU^ 


I  could  not  act  for  you  until  you  have  first  retained  me  as 
your  attorney  in  this  matter,  and  sent  me  the  small  retaining 
io.H  of  $10,   as  requested. 

Now,  my  dear  sir,  if  you  really  mean  business  and  really 
»vant  to  marry  the  charming  and  wealthy  young  widow  in  ques- 
tion, I  see  no  earthly  reason  why  you  should  hesitate  for  a 
single  instant  to  retain  my  services  in  connection  with  this  mat- 
ter.    You  may  give  me  good  references,  and  I  can  give  you  the 


136  .MATKIMONIAL  AGENTS 

same,  but  that  has  no  bearing  on  the  ca5?e  whatever.  I  cannot, 
as  stated,  do  any  business  with  you  until  j-ou  first  enclose  me 
this  small  retaining  fee,  as  I  must  be  in  a  position  to  truth- 
fully state  that  you  are  my  frieud  and  client. 

You  may  have  had  unfortunate  dealings  with  matrimonial 
agencies,  but  as  an  attorney  in  high  standing,  I  am  not  to  be 
compared  with  such  concerns,  and  on  receipt  of  your  small 
retaining  fee,  I  will  guarantee  to  do  my  part  and  arrange  a 
speedy   marriage  if  you  adhere  strictly  to   my   instructions. 

Trusting  to  hear  favorably  from  you  at  once.  I  am. 

Yours  verj-  truly. 
Edward  Morris. 

P.  S.  I  do  not  ask  for  the  balance  of  the  .^100  until  after 
your  marriage,  and  I  have  caused  the  lady  to  place  in  your 
hands  or  under  your  control  a  goodly  portion  of  her  worldly 
possessions. 

Edward  Morkis,  Attorney-at-Law. 

Chicago,  111.,  Jan.  23,  1905. 
Mb.  Geo.  Ferun. 

Los  Angelese.  Cal. 
Dear  Sir;  i 

Your  favor  at  hand  with  enclosure  accepting  my  proposi- 
tion. Now,  I  wish  to  assure  you  that  everything  you  write  to 
me  will  be  treated  in  the  strictest  confidence,  and  I  will  say 
that  it  will  be  necessarj-  for  you  to  follow  to  the  letter  the  in- 
structions which  I  will  from  time  to  time  give  you. 

In  order  to  break  the  ice,  I  would  suggest  that  you  address 
a  letter  to  Mrs.  Lucy  Kline,  in  my  care,  briefly  setting  forth 
the  fact  that  you  are  a  friend  and  client  of  mine,  and  tiiat  as 
you  are  matrimonially  inclined.  I  have  advised  you  to  open  a 
cprrespondence  with  her.  You  can  say  to  her  that  I  have  fa- 
vored you  with  her  photograph,  and  that  same  meets  your  ap- 
proval, and  that  you  would  very  much  desire  her  acquaintance 
and  what  it  may  lead  to.  I  have  already  taken  up  the  matter 
with  her.  and  she  is  expecting  a  letter  from  you,  and  in  reply 
will  send  you   her  private  address. 

I  would  advise  you,  after  receiving  her  reply,  not  to  write 
too  often  or  too  long  letters.  In  other  words,  do  not  aj)pear  to 
be  too  anxious,  for  it  must  devolve  upon  me  to  bring  you  two 
together.  The  corrcsj>ondence  you  may  have  with  her  is  simply 
a  preliminary  introduction  leading  to  the  establishment  of  con- 
genial  relations   and   eventually,   marriage. 

Important  business  prevents  my  writing  a  longer  letter  to 
you  today,  and  in  order  that  I  may  be  iirepared  to  take  the 
matter  up.  I  suggest  that  you  write  your  letter  so  that  it  will 
reach  my  office  in  about  one  week   from   today. 

Yours  truly. 
Edward  Morris. 

Matrimoniat.  Agency  Under  the  Orisi;  of  E:^fPLOY>rENT 

EXCUANOE. 

Positions  for  Men  and  Women.  Commercial,  Technical, 
Educational,  Professional.  Those  Hardest  to  Find  and 
Hardest  to  Fill. 


COINlXd  C'(;iMD\S  WILES  13^ 

G.  H.  Cannon^  Manager, 
Ohio  Block. 

Chicajio,  111.,   Sept.  21,  1905. 
Mrs.  a.  a.  Bubkows, 

San  Fran,  Cal. 
Dear  Madam : 

I  am  directed  by  a  client  for  whom  we  transact  much  busi- 
ness, to  submit  you  a  proposition,  which  both  he  and  I  sin- 
cerely hope  you  will  accept.  He  is  a  bachelor  of  middle  age,  of 
fine  appearance,  and  is  the  owner  of  a  large  manufacturing 
plant,  as  well  as  of  a  magnificent  residence,  in  which  he  lived 
until  recently  with  his  aged  mother,  who,  greatly  to  his  re- 
gret, departed  this  life  some  six  months  ago.  Since  her  death 
he  has  felt  the  need  of  a  woman's  guiding  hand  in  the  man- 
agement of  his  household  affairs,  and  it  is  to  offer  you  a  posi- 
tion as  his  housekeeper  that  I  am  addressing  you  personally. 

I  beg  to  state  that  attached  to  the  position  is  a  salary  of  $75 
per  month,  your  board,  and  an  allowance  of  $25  per  month  for 
your  clothing,  and  you  will  have  full  charge  of  his  household 
expenses,  including  the  employment  and  discharge  of  servants, 
consisting  of  a  butler,   two  housemaids,   driver,  cook,   etc. 

If  you  accept  the  position  his  carriage  will  be  at  your  dis- 
posal at  all  times,  and  you  will  be  the  actual  head  of  his  house- 
hold, with  no  restrains  of  any  kind  upon  you.  As  I  have 
stated,  this  client  is  a  bachelor,  and  on  account  of  his  mother's 
determined  opposition  to  his  marriage  during  her  lifetime,  he 
has  gone  little  in  society,  but  since  her  death  he  has  never 
ceased  to  feel  the  need  of  a  woman's  hand  and  presence  in  his 
home. 

His  first  thought  was  marriage,  but  after  a  lengthy  talk 
with  me  he  very  cheerfully  acquiesced  in  the  suggestion  that 
has  led  to  the  writing  of  this  letter,  and  now  to  the  point. 

I  suggested  that  he  allow  me  to  secure  for  him  a  house- 
keeper who  might  possess  the  qualities  he  most  desires  in  a 
wife,  and  then  I  consulted  a  matrimonial  agency  with  that  end 
in  view.  Your  description  seemed  to  fit  so  exactly  his  idea  of 
true  womanhood  and  appealed  to  him  so  strongly  that  his  first 
impulse  was  to  address  you  directly,  but  being  of  a  sensitive 
and  retiring  disposition,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he 
should  become  thoroughly  acquainted  with  you,  and  could  not 
do  better  than  allow  me  to  carry  out  my  original  plan  to  make 
your  acquaintance. 

To  be  candid  with  you,  this  position  is  a  very  lucrative  one, 
and  will  undoubtedly  lead  to  your  marriage  with  this  gentle- 
man, if  you  see  fit  to  accept  the  proposition,  and  for  that  rea- 
son I  trust  you  will  give  it  the  consideration  is  deserves. 

As  he  secures  the  help  necessary  to  the  ininning  of  his  large 
factory  through  this  firm,  of  which  I  happen  to  be  the  manager, 
you  cannot  but  understand  that  I  am  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  him,  and  am  in  a  position  to  arrange  this  matter  to  your 
mutual   satisfaction. 

It  is  a  custom  to  charge  a  fee  of  ^5,  but  in  this  instance  we 
would  make  no  charge  at  all,  only  our  client  insists  that  we  re- 
quire our  usual  fee  simply  as  an  evidence  of  good  faith,  and 
that  there  may  be  no  misunderstanding.  If  you  accept  the 
proposition  I  have  submitted  kindly  fill  out  the  enclosed  fonn 
and  return  to  us  with  EXPRESS  MONEY  ORDER  or  RANK 


138 


MATRIMONIAL  AGENTS 


OPINIONS  DIFFER 


The  above  are  illustrations  of  the  method.  Cannon,  Rev. 
Spencer  and  Attorney  Edwards  are  all  one  and  the  same  man. 
We  now  turn  to  a  few  special  examples  of  differences  of  pro- 
cedure among  the  various  bureaux. 


COINING  CUPID'S  WILES  139 

DRAFT  for  $5.  which  amount  will  be  returned  to  you  as  soon 
as  you  have  taken  charge  of  his  household  affairs,  as  your  good 
faith  will  have  then  been  proved. 

As  soon  as  you  can  start  for  Chicago  I  will  send  you  expense, 
free  railroad  transportation,  and  if,  after  your  arrival  here, 
you  do  not  care  to  accept  the  position,  a  return  ticket,  etc., 
will  be  furnished  you  so  that  you  will  not  be  out  one  dollar  of 
expense. 

This  offer  is  made  to  you  in  the  strictest  confidence,  and  I 
sincerely  trust  you  will  so  regard  it,  and  not  discuss  it  with 
any  one,  at  least  not  until  all  the  details  have  been  arranged. 

No  matrimonial  agency  in  the  world  can  do  this  for  you,  nor 
do  I  think  such  an  opportunity  will  ever  occur  to  you  again, 
so  kindly  sign  the  enclosed  form  and  return  it  to  me  imme- 
diately with  the  small  fee  necessary,  or  do  not  write  me  at  all. 
No  harm  will  have  been  done  by  having  submitted  the  propo- 
sition to  you,  but  if  you  cannot  take  immediate  advantage  of 
it,  I  simply  will  not  correspond  further  in  the  matter.  Trust- 
ing that  you  will  see  your  way  clear,  and  wishing  you  well,  I  am. 

Very  sincerely, 

G.  H.  Cannon. 

A  Persistent  Offender. 

One  of  the  most  successful  operators  who  ever  invaded  Chi- 
cago with  matrimonial  schemes  was  one  John  Carson,  who,  on 
April  8,  1908,  was  fined  $1,000  and  costs  for  misuse  of  the 
United  States  mails  after  he  had  plead  guilty  to  the  charge, 
which  was  preferred  by  Inspector  Ketcham. 

Carson,  at  one  time  or  another,  operated  no  less  than  eigh- 
teen concerns  of  this  nature.  He  was  first  discovered  in  1903 
in  Chicago  by  Detective  Wooldridge,  operating  no  less  than 
five  matrimonial  and  fake  concerns  simultaneously.  These 
concerns  were: 

The  Loretta  Matrimonial  Publishing  Co.,  98  Ogden  Ave. 

The  Unida  Matrimonial  Publishing  Co.,  408  Ogden  Ave. 

Mr.  John's  Matrimonial  Publishing  Co.,  565  West  Madi- 
son St. 

Mr.  J.  C.  Hills  Matrimonial  Agency,  565  West  Madison  St. 

The  Chicago  Mutual  Securities  Co.,  a  Chicago  Medicine 
concern,  567  W.  Madison  St. 

Carson  evaded  arrest  and  fled  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  was 
shortly  afterward  arrested  by  the  postal  authorities  and  sen- 
tenced to  eighteen  months  in  the  State  Penitentiary  at  Jefferson 
City,  in  addition  to  a  fine  of  $500. 


140  MATKIMONIAI.  AGENTS 


Bobs  Vi>  Again, 


In  1904  Carson  bobbed  up  again  in  Chicago.  Since  that  time 
his  record  is  best  given  from  a  report  made  to  Chief  of  Police 
John  M.  Collins  by  Detective  Wooldridge,  who  repeatedly 
broke  up  Carson's  games.    The  report,  in  part,  is  as  follows: 

Feb.  9,  J.  H.  Carson  Woods'  Advertising  Agency,  62  Ada 
St.     Goods  confiscated ;  fined  $25.  . 

March  9,  1904,  J.  H.  Carson,  Mill's  Advertisifig  Agency,  71 
W.  Lake  St.     Fined  $15. 

May  4,  1904,  J.  H.  Carson,  alias  J.  IT.  Hayes,  408  Ogden 
Ave.,  raided.    Literature  seized  and  destroyed  by  order  of  court. 

May  4,  1904,  J.  H.  Carson,  alias  J.  H.  Hayes,  255  Madison 
St.,  raided.     Literature  seized  and  destroyed  by  order  of  court. 

Nov.  15,  1^)04,  J.  H.  Carson,  alias  J.  W.  Bessie,  480  Ogden 
Ave.,  raided.     Arrested;  released;  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

Nov.  15,  1904,  J.  H.  Carson,  alias  J.  W.  Bessie,  67  Flournoy 
St.,  raided.     Arrested ;  released ;  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

Jan.  4,  1905,  J.  H.  Carson  and  Oscar  Wells,  promoted  and 
run  the  J.  H.  Hunter  Matrimonial  Agency.  164  East  Randolph 
St.  Oscar  Wells  was  arrested  and  fined  $50  hy  Justice  John  K. 
Prindiville. 

April  19,  1905,  J.  H.  Carson  and  J.  R.  Ferguson,  conducted 
the  Jesse  H.  Lee  Matrimonial  Agency,  84  Wasliington  St.  Fer- 
guson was  arrested  and  fined  $15  by  Caverley.  The  literature 
seized  and  destroyed. 

Turns  Clairvoyant. 

May  27,  1905,  J.  H.  Carson  conducted  the  Clay's  American 
Bureau  of  Correspondence,  62  Ada  St.  He  was  arrested  and 
fined  $25  by  Justice  John  K.  Prindiville.  The  literature 
seized  and  destroyed. 

Aug.  21,  1905,  J.  H.  Carson  and  J.  R.  Ferguson  conduofed 
the  Ferguson  Directory,  a  Matrimonial  agency  at  171  Wash- 
ington St.  This  place  was  raided  and  Jesse  R.  Ferguson  was 
.1.  rested   and  fined  i^25  bv  Justice  John  T\.   Prindiville. 


(JOINING  CUPlD'y  VVlLEtS  141 

May  27,  1905,  J,  H,  Carson  conducted  the  Jesse  Lee  Matri- 
monial Agency,  84  Washington  St.  He  was  arrested  and  fined 
$2.5  by  Justice  John  K.  Prindiville. 

Aug.  19,  1905,  J.  H.  Carson  was  arrested  for  conducting  a 
Chicago  Matrimonial  Agency  at  171  Washington  St.  and  95 
Fifth  Ave.,  under  the  name  of  Prof.  John  C.  Hall,  Astrologist, 
Occult,  Scientist,  Clairvoyant,  Medium,  and  Lifereader. 

With  this  record  behind  him  this  rascal  actually  had  the  nerve 
to  bring  suit  for  false  arrest  against  Detective  Wooldridge,  but 
quite  naturally,  he  failed  to  appear  when  the  suit  came  up  for 
trial. 

He  has  not  been  heard  from  since  the  fine  imposed  on  April 
S,  1908,  by  the  Federal  authorities. 

Agents  of  the  TJndervtoeld  a  Nest  of  Pole-Cats. 

But  crime  is  not  the  only  long  suit  of  the  Matrimonial 
Agency.  Some  of  these  miserable  frauds  have  descended  into 
the  depths  and  wallowed  in  the  slime  of  the  ultimate  shame. 

With  unbelievable  effrontery  they  have  attempted  to  trade 
upon  the  basest  instincts  in  human  nature ;  they  have  attempted 
to  coin  the  most  abominable  of  the  brute  passions  of  men. 

Nothing  can  exceed  the  turpitude,  the  brazen  shamelessness 
of  the  Matrimonial  Agency,  when  it  decides  to  go  the  limit. 

Attest  the  following  from  the  literature  of  the  New  Era  Ad- 
vertising Agency  and  Introduction  Bureau,  Curtis,  Clark  & 
Co.,  Props.,  formerly  located  at  113  Clark  street,  Chicago. 
This  abomination  was  raided  by  Detective  Wooldridge  and  the 
following  sample  from  one  of  the  circulars  seized  shows  the 
nature  of  the  concern: 

"If  you  are  willing  to  give  your  name  and  protection  to  one 
who  has  fallen  and  wishes  again  to  enter  the  ranks  of  respecta- 
bility, we  have  some  young  women  who  have  led  fast  lives 
and  accumulated  considerable  money,  and  want  to  marry  some 
respectable  man,  settle  down  in  a  new  place  and  be  respected 
and    respectable.      THEY    AKE    HANDSOME,    STYLISH, 


U2  ^OATiUMOMAL  AGE^NT^ 

LIVELY  AXD  FULL  OF  FUN :  HAVE  MONEY  ENOUGH 
FOR  BOTH.  They  will  no  doubt  make  good,  loving  and  true 
wives  for  some  good-natured  fellow  who  is  not  particular  about 
their  past.  Through  our  efforts  several  wealthy  ladies  of  the 
demi-monde  have  married  very  poor  men  in  return  for  their 
name  and  protection,  given  them  a  life  of  ease  and  luxury,  and 
the  opportunities  are  greater  today  than  in  the  past,  consider- 
ing the  fact  that  the  world  in  general  is  anxious  to  lend  a 
helping  hand  to  those  wlio  have  erred  and  wish  to  become  re- 
spectable again.*' 

This  pole-cat  literature  was  being  sent  broadcast  through 
the  United  States  mails.  In  some  way  it  evaded  the  inspectors 
until  the  23rd  of  September,  1902,  when  Detective  Clifton  R 
Wooldridge  descended  upon  the  nest  of  pole-cats,  seized  the  lit- 
erature, chased  "Curtis,  Clark  &  Co."  out  of  Chicago,  and 
made  further  evil-smelling  operations  impossible. 

These  abominations  are  now  practically  impossible,  thanks 
to  the  activity  of  the  great  police  detective.  But  the  above 
illustrations  shows  to  what  depths  the  marriage  bureaus  can 
descend,  once  they  have  become  started  on  their  infamous 
careers. 

November  26,  1902,  Detective  Wooldridge  raided  the  Climax 
Matrimonial  Agency,  located  at  418  LaSalle  avenue,  which  is 
situated  on  the  North  Side,  in  one  of  the  most  fashionable 
places  in  Chicago. 

It  was  run  not  only  as  a  matrimonial  agency,  but  a  matri- 
monial paper  and  mail  order  house.  Among  the  literature 
seized  Avas  a  circular  containing  a  picture  of  the  manager's  wife, 
and  of  which  he  sent  out  over  300,000.  which  gave  the  descrijv- 
tion  of  her,  which  read  as  follows: 

Sheriff  l)ri>En — Attempts  Role  of  Lothario. 

"I  am  23  years  of  age,  5  feet  2  inches  in  height,  weigh  120 
pounds,  have  a  turn-up  nose,  plain-looking  and  worth  about 
$147,000.     I  desire  to  marrv  a  good,  honest,  atfectionate  man. 


COINING  CUPID'S  WILES 


143 


/  Cot  fAONEV 

IfN   OB   Bank 


*GOT    A    OOO-D    HOME    ALREADY    PAID    FOR.    AN'    MONEY 
IN    D^   BANK." 


•«E8  A  ^LAfN,  LITTLE  ONINTERESTIN"  FAMBLY  ftOW." 


144  MATKIMONIAL  AGENTS 

On  our  wedding  day  1  will  give  my  husband  $5,500  in  cash, 
and  one  year  later,  ii  we  are  still  living  together,  I  will  make 
over  to  him  $25,000  more.  Xo  milk-and-water  man  need  an- 
swer." 

One  letter  from  a  ^Mississippi  sliorif!  shows  tliat  the  officer  of 
the  law  is  willing  to  forsake  bachelorhood  for  a  woman  who, 
though  plain,  advertises  that  on  hor  wedding  day  she  will  give 
her  husband  $5,500.    This  is  the  gay  Lothario's  letter: 

Miss  Ot. — I  take  pleasure  in  answering  your  "ad"'  in  the 
"Hour  at  Home.''  You  stated  in  your  "ad"  you  were  worth 
$147,000,  and  would  give  the  man  that  married  you  $5,500  on 
his  wedding  day.    You  say  you  are  plain. 

I  am  good  looking,  so  the  people  tell  me,  and  if  you  corre- 
spond with  me  we  may  come  to  an  understanding.  I  am  will- 
ing to  marry  you  if  you  give  me  proof  you  have  the  money,  and 
will  do  all  that  you  say  in  the  "ad." 

I  will  do  my  hest  to  make  vour  life  happy.  Awaiting  your 
replv,  I  remain.  Yours  truly, 

\V.  ^r.  M..  Sherifl'. 

BIGAMY  AND  THE  BUREAU. 

Where  the  Professional  Bigamists  Find  Wives. 

The  matrimonial  agencies  that  have  been  investigated  and 
suppressed  by  Detective  Wooldridge  and  the  postoffice  authori- 
ties have  disclosed  an  almost  incredible  pliase  of  woman's 
nature. 

There  are  today  in  the  United  States  no  less  than  50,000 
women  who  have  been  married,  robbed  and  deserted  by  "pro- 
fessional bigamists."'  This  fact  represents  the  most  serious 
phase  of  the  matrimonial  agency  swindle,  for  it  is  the  history 
of  nearly  all  noted  l)igamists  tliat  they  secured  their  victims 
through  the  matrimonial  agencies.  Of  th(^  thousands  who  be- 
come subscribers  to  these  agencies,  however,  comparatively 
Few   ever  proeeed    far  ennugli    to  eneount(>r   fbe   trairie   features 


UOlNlxVlJ   Ci;Pli)\S  WILES 


145 


PUTS  il  SNAFFLE  BIT  ON  THE  OLD  MAN 


of  tEe  swindle.  It  might  be  inferred  from  this  that  women 
arc  much  easier  to  entice  into  matrimony  than  men.  Prob- 
ably, however,  this  is  an  nntenable  conclusion.  A\nien  a 
woman  does  start  on  marrying  bent,  mere  men  fall  before  her 
like  grain  before  tlie  sickle.  Miss  Marion  Rapp,  arrested  at 
Philadelphia,  is  knnwn  to  have  secured  cigld  linsl)ands  in  three 


146  MATKIMONIAL  AGENTS 

years,  and  is  suspected  of  having  captured  six  or  eight  more. 
Miss  Rapp  is  still  young,  and  if  her  career  had  not  been  un- 
timely cut  off  she  might  have  made  a  record  that  would  have 
done  credit  (or  discredit)  to  her  sex. 

The  sad  experiences  of  people  who  have  been  victimized  by 
gay  deceivers,  male  or  female,  perhaps  contain  a  lesson  to  per- 
sons who  carelessly  contemplate  matrimony.  When  a  stranger 
proposes  marriage  at  first  sight  it  may  possibly  be  well  to  take 
a  look  into  his  or  her  antecedents.  This  is  not  the  most  ro- 
mantic way  to  proceed,  but  it  is  a  Avay  that  may  have  a  great 
practical  advantage.  It  probably  would  be  endorsed  by  every 
one  of  the  50,000  women  in  this  country  who  are  now  looking 
for  professional  bigamists  who  married  them  and  ran  away 
with  their  cash. 

That  the  matrimonial  agency  but^iness  is  not  coniined  to 
Chicago  and  dupes  of  the  system  are  found  elsewhere  than  in 
rural  communities  and  among  the  poor  and  humble  is  demon- 
strated by  recent  revelations  in  Europe.  During  one  raid  1 
.seized  a  large  quantity  of  literature  in  the  offices  of  a  swindling 
concern  doing  business  under  the  name  of  !Mason,  Brown  &  Co. 
The  ''firm"  advertised  itself  as  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the 
world  and  the  only  one  "indorsed  by  press  and  public  and 
patronized  by  royalty/'  adding  that  its  "clients  and  representa- 
tives were  to  be  found  in  every  land." 

In  extra  large  type  (he  information  was  conveyed  to  the 
victim  that  he  or  she  need  not  be  ashamed  to  resort  to  tlio 
agency  method  in  order  to  secure  a  life  partner,  as  tlio  royalty 
of  Europe  used  this  means  exclusively  in  contracting  marriages, 
especially  in  cases  where  American  heiresses  were  sought  as 
wives  for  titled  but  impecunious  foreigners. 

When  it  was  casually  remarked  during  an  examination  of  a 
wagon  load  of  Mason,  Brown  &  Company's  advertising  matter 
the  reference  to  the  titles  and  heiresses  was  the  only  true  state- 
ment it  contained,  there  were  smiles  of  incredulity.  American 
millionaires  were  said  to  be  too  shrewd  and  level-headed  to 


COINING  CUPID'S  WILES 


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148  MATKLMONIAL  AGENTS 

enter  into  deals  with  marriage  brokers  when  tlie  life  happiness 
of  their  fair  and  independent  daughters  is  concerned. 

It  was  but  a  short  time  after  this  conversation,  however,  that 
the  following  cablegram  was  published : 

The  Case  of  Count  Lakisch. 

"Aug.  25th,  1905:  The  alleged  attempt  to  blackmail  Count 
Franz  Joseph  Maria  Von  Larisch  Monnich  out  of  200,000  marks 
on  a  pre-nuptial  note  alleged  to  have  been  signed  by  the  count, 
and  the  implication  of  army  officers  and  members  of  the  aristoc- 
racy in  the  marriage  brokerage  business,  has  caused  more  talk  in 
high  circles  than  anything  which  has  happened  since  the  elope- 
ment of  Crown  Princess  Louise  of  Saxony." 

It  is  said  the  Kaiser  had  to  take  a  hand  in  the  matter,  and 
insists  that  this  business  shall  be  stopped  finally  and  effectively 
on  the  ground  it  is  bringing  the  army  and  nobility  into  disrc- 
])ute  and  ridicule. 

The  harm  done  by  these  agencies  is  almost  incalculable. 
Foolish  women  having  money  at  their  disposal  fall  easy  vic- 
tims to  the  many  scheming  scoundrels  who  make  a  practice 
of  subscribing  to  the  matrimonial  agencies  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  the  addresses  of  prospective  victims. 

As  instances  of  the  harm  done  by  these  mafrimonial  agen- 
cies the  case  of  Johann  Hoch,  who  married  fifty  women,  and 
after  securing  all  their  money,  either  poisoned  or  deserted 
them.  He  was  captured  in  New  York  City,  January  30,  1905, 
after  he  had  married  a  woman  in  Chicago,  Mary  Sehultz,  alias 
Brees,  alias  Bauman,  poisoned  her,  then  made  love  to  her  sister, 
married  her,  secured  what  money  she  had  and  descried  her. 
Hoch  was  brought  back  to  Chicago,  tried  for  jnnrdcr,  convicted 
and  hung  February  23,  1906.    This  is  a  glaring  example. 

The  case  of  Fredrick  Carlton,  indicted  on  two  charges  of 
grand  larceny  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  July,  1905,  is  another. 

It  is  stated  on  what  seems  to  be  reliable  authority  this  man 
made  the  acquainfnnce  of'  women  in  vnrioiis  ]i;irls  of  (he  cduii- 


IN  CUPID'S  WORKSHOP. 


•Ten  dollare   extra,   cabpy. 
mother-in-law.;- 


■on  .ai.h   ibe    train    *vf<    \nr      She's    my 


150  MxVTElMONIAL  AGENTS 

try  through  the  raedium  of  matrimonial  advertisements,  mar- 
ried them  and  decamped  with  their  money  at  the  first  favorable 
/)pportunit3\     Still  another: 

Dr.  George  A.  Witzhoff,  champion  bigamist,  arrested  in 
Bristol,  England,  October,  1905,  for  bigamy  and  given  a  long 
term  in  prison.  He  was  wanted  in  many  cities  in  the  United 
States. 

WitzhofE    confessed    to    marrying    and    robbing    thirty-two 
women.    Most  all  of  the  women  he  married  lived  in  the  United 
States,  and  were  secured  through  the  matrimonial  agencies. 
Witzhoff's  Confession — Bought  Fifteen  Wives  From  One 

Agent — Takes  $4,000  From  His  First  "Wife. 

"Then,  one  night,  after  indulging  in  plent}-  of  wine,  she 
confessed  she  had  a  child  in  Pittsburg.  I  left  her  there,  tell- 
ing her  I  was  going  to  bring  her  child,  which  was  nine  years 
old.  Instead,  I  went  to  New  York  with  her  money  ($4,000), 
and  paid  my  friend  part  of  his  money,  and  started  a  practice 
as  a  dentist  in  Fourteenth  street  as  Dr.  A.  R.  Houser.  I  went 
to  see  a  matchmaker.  He  introduced  me  to  a  widow  of  means. 
We  got  married  in  two  weeks  at  the  City  Hall,  Xew  York. 

"She  had  all  her  money  loaned  away,  so  I  was  compelled  to 
seek  another  one,  as  Sig.  Badillo  Avas  hard  after  his  balance  of 
$1,000. 

"I  went  to  Philadelphia  and  got  a  Jewish  matchmaker  again 
on  Fifteenth  street  and  Fairmoimt  avenue,  and  he  introduced 
mc  to  a  Miss  Jocker  as  Dr.  A.  Houser. 

"I  got  $800  from  her.  I  yiaid  Badillo  $500  and  left  for 
Springfield,  Mass.,  where  a  woman  answered  one  of  my  ads. 
1  inserted  an  ^id.'  as  follows: 

"*A  professional  gentleman  of  nice  appearance,  aged  thirty- 
two,  desires  the  acquaintance  of  a  sincere,  affectionate  lady, 
with  some  means;  object,  matrimony;  triflers  ignored.  Give 
particulars  in  first  letter.     Address  Busy  Bee,  the  Joumal.' 

"I  had  about  twelve  answers  to  this  advertisement,   and   T 


COlNlN^d  (M'Pri)\s  WILES 


151 


152  MATRIMONIAL  AGENTS 

picked  out  a  boarding  liouse  mistress,  and  ten  days  after  she 
was  Mrs.  Westfield,  and  as  she  was  a  vulgar  woman,  I  left  hej- 
two  days  after.     She  had  given  me  .$500  before  marriage. 

"I  returned  to  New  York  to  wife  No.  2,  and  a  week  after  I 
went  to  St.  Louis  and  inserted  an  ''ad.'  as  previously,  and  got 
fifteen  answers.  There  I  selected  a  farmer's  daughter  and  mar- 
ried her  as  Dr.  Doesser.  I  married  and  left  her  all  within  a 
week. 

"I  came  to  Detroit,  and  Avith  her  mone)%  $350,  I  started  a 
dental  practice  as  A.  Houser.  In  answer  to  my  advertisements 
in  a  German  paper,  Mrs.  Piser  came. 

"We  went  to  Toledo,  0.,  five  days  after  our  first  interview, 
and  we  got  married.    I  left  her  six  days  after. 

"I  came  now  to  Pittsburg,  as  Dr.  Wolfe,  got  a  furnished  room 
in  Allegheny.  In  answer  to  an  ^ad.'  in  a  German  paper  a 
sexton's  daughter  answered,  the  ugliest  I  ever  had.  Three 
days  after  we  went  to  the  justice  of  the  peace  and  got  married." 

Deserts  Wife  After  the  First  Day. 

"There  I  slept  the  first  night,  and  the  next  morning  I  was 
on  my  way  to  Cleveland,  and  started  a  nice  practice  with  the 
$150  I  had  left.  I  paid  the  balance  to  my  friend.  Badillo, 
and  inserted  an  *ad.'  in  the  Plain-Dealer. 

"I  had  two  answers  to  my  *ad.,'  and  selected  a  Mrs.  Moore, 
a  nurse,  and  a  Mrs.  Kreidman.  I  got  from  the  nurse  $100,  and 
was  making  love  to  Mrs.  Kreidman  and  Mrs.  Moore,  when  I  got 
a  letter  from  wife  No.  3,  with  whom  I  corresponded  all  the 
time,  telling  her  I  traveled  for  a  firm. 

"So  I  left,  and  forgot  tliat  1  left  in  Cleveland  a  paper  under 
the  tablecloth  wbich  had  my  address  in  Brooklyn.  One  morn- 
ing (ten  days  after  T  left  Cleveland)  two  detectives  came  to 
the  house  in  Brooklyn  and  arrested  me.  As  there  was  no  bail 
for  my  offense  (obtaining  money  under  false  pretenses),  I  re- 
turned to  Cleveland  a  week  later,  and  there  T  married  a  bad 
woman  in  iail,  ^Irs.  Kreidman. 


''She  gave  $200  boiul,  hut  I  left  her  four  (hiys  after,  as  >]h- 
^vi\fi  a  bad  woman.  I  slept  one  night  at  lier  house,  and  tlirer 
days  after  I  went  to  Chicago  and  went  to  see  a  matrimonial 
agent  at  5r)  Washington  street. 

Identified  ix  Chicago;  Wedding  Stopped. 

"He  introduced  me  to  a  nice  Jewess,  and  her  father  gave  me 
$400.  I  started  an  office  on  Fourteenth  street,  when  a  man 
from  Philadelphia  recognized  me,  and  told  her  father,  a  rag 
dealer,  that  I  was  a  married  man,  named  Hansen,  just  in  time 
to  prevent  the  marriage. 

'"T  left  Chicago  as  Dr.  Weston  and  went  to  St.  Louis,  where 
T  started  an  office  in  Olive  street  as  Dr.  A.  Dresser,  and  there 
I  advertised  and  selected  from  a  number  of  letters  that  of  a 
farmer's  daughter  that  had  $1,000,  and  married  her  (Katie). 
Six  days  after  I  left  her  and  left  America  and  went  to  Eoii- 
mania,  and  married  a  girl,  a  Jewess,  in  Pitest,  and  lived  in 
Roumania  as  Dr.  F.  A.  Shotz. 

"Happy  six  months :  I  got  3,000  francs,  and  we  left  for  Ger- 
many. There  we  had  a  quarrel,  and  she  returned  to  her  par- 
ents." 

Dr.  Witzhoff  further  states  that  the  number  of  all  the  girls 
and  women  he  merely  promised  to  marry  and  secured  money 
from  would  reach  over  one  hundred. 

One  of  the  women  Witzhoff  married  lived  in  Chicago,  111. 

May  13,  1903,  John  J.  Marietta  (alias  Homer  C.  Reid,  Har- 
old C.  Mills,  A.  S.  Anderson,  C.  H.  Huston,  C.  B.  McCoy,  H. 
C.  Jones,  Harold  C.  Reed)  was  arrested  through  exposure  by 
Laura  E.  Strickler,  a  beautiful  young  girl  from  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  who  boarded  at  the  Young  Women's  Association,  Chi- 
cago. She  had  been  lured  to  the  I^ewport  Hotel,  73  Monroe 
street,  where  he  proposed  marriage  and  attempted  liberties. 
Miss  Strickler  became  frightened,  jumped  from  the  second  stor\'' 
window  and  was  badly  injured. 

Marietta  married  no  less  than  six  women,  three  of  whom. 


154 


MATRIMONIAL  AGENTS 


Sophia  Headley,  Marie  Butler  and  Flora  Renli^.  appeared  in 
court  to  prosecute  him  September  28,  Me  was  convicted. 
Judge  Brentano's  court  of  bigamy,  and  given  five  years  in  the 
Joliet  penitentiary. 

"Marietta  said  ho  secured  most  of  his  wives  through  the 
marriage  agency.  Mills  said  to  Miss  Headley,  after  meeting 
her  the  second  time:     "How  anxious  are  you  to  marry  me? 


COINING  CUPID'S  WILES  155 


Make  me  an  offer  in  cash  of  the  sum  you  are  willing  to  settle 
on  me."  "Three  thousand  dollars/'  she  answered.  "All  right," 
he  replied,  "but  you  know  I  am  from  Missouri,  you  will  have 
to  show  me."  She  gave  him  the  $3,000  and  they  were  married. 
At  the  time  of  his  conviction  Marietta  had  in  the  bank 
!t'25,000,  said  to  have  been  secured  in  the  above  manner. 


156  MATEIMONIAL  AGENTS 

BREAKING   INTO  THE  NOBILITY. 

How  Titled  Kakes  Use  the  Agencies. 

The  marriage  bureau  is  not  a  distinctly  American  institu- 
tion. They  know  the  animal  in  Europe,  only  there  the  oper- 
ators refer  to  themselves  as  marriage  brokers,  and  are  decid- 
edly more  careful  than  their  American  prototypes  to  steer  clear 
of  crime. 

The  idea  of  jnarriage  broking  has  thoroughly  permeated  the 
effete  nobility  of  Europe.  The  broken-down  "nobles/"'  out  at 
heels  and  buried  under  a  mountain  of  debt,  look  to  America 
for  a  rich  heiress  to  whom  their  titles  may  be  sold.  For  many 
years  thoy  looked  to  the  brokers  on  their  own  side  of  the  water 
to  provide  them  with  golden  girls;  but  of  late  years  they  have 
been  mixing  with  the  American  Matrimonial  Agencies,  some- 
times to  their  sorrow,  as  attest  the  case  of  Count  Larisch. 

Woes  of  Count  Larisch. 

The  story  of  the  attempt  on  Count  Larisch  is  not  an  unusuni 
one.  Briefly,  the  count,  who  is  an  Austrian,  but  who  has  es- 
tates in  Prussia,  was  anxious  to  replenish  his  treasury  by  marry- 
ing an  heiress.  A  syndicate  composed  of  the  men  now  under 
indictment,  it  is  said,  financed  him.  He  set  out  to  marry  the 
daughter  of  Faber,  the  multi-millionaire  pencil  manufacturer 
of  Nuremberg,  giving  his  notes  for  $50,000,  payable  upon  his 
marriage  to  Fraulein  Faber.  The  venture  was  a  failure,  for 
Fraulcin  Faber  did  not  care  to  become  Countess  Larisch.  The 
noble  fortune-hunter  then  went  to  America  in  quest  of  a  bride. 
Whether  it  was  on  his  own  account,  or  under  the  auspices  of 
another  marriage  syndicate,  does  not  appear,  though  it  is  hinted 
the  latter  is  the  case.  In  any  event,  he  was  successful,  and 
married  Aliss  Satierlce,  of  Tihisvillo,  Pa. 

On  his  return  the  momluM-s  of  tb<'  firsl  Faber  syndicate  de- 
manded payment,  and  presented  a  note  purporting  to  have  been 
ijiven  bv  T>arisfh  witlioiil   ihc  (pialificntion  thai   it  was  iiayablc 


COINIKG  CUPID'S  WILES  157 

only  after  his  marriage  to  the  pencil  manufacturers  daughter. 
Larisch,  regarding  the  Faber  affair  a  closed  incident,  and  de- 
claring the  note  presented  a  forgery,  refused  to  pay.  The 
matter  got  before  the  public  prosecutor  and  the  expose  re- 
sulted. 

Lord   Bertie    Cavendish — Champion   Matrimonialist. 

Oct.  24,  1905,  Miss  Gladys  Simmons,  Hot  Springs,  Ark., 
married  Lord  Bertie  Cavendish  after  two  days'  acquaintance. 
He  represented  himself  to  be  of  noble  birth,  son  of  the  late 
Marquis  of  Queensbury,  and  to  have  immense  possessions  in 
South  Africa  and  Mexico,  which  he  was  unable  to  obtain  on 
account  of  his  banishment  from  England  for  serving  against 
the  British  in  the  Boer  war,  due  to  the  activity  of  British  army 
officers  against  him. 

Miss  Simmons'  mother  received  information  that  her  son-in- 
law's  name  was  not  Lord  Bertie  Cavendish,  but  Douglass.  By 
photographs  and  further  investigation  his  identity  was  estab- 
lished as  that  of  an  adventurer. 

Following  is  a  partial  list  of  his  wives,  several  of  whom 
have  asked  the  court  to  grant  them  divorces: 

Miss  Louisiana  Hobbs,  Lambert  Point.  Va.,  near  Norfolk. 

Mrs.  Mabel  Duncan,  Denver,  Colo. 

Mrs.  Scott,  South  Bend,  Ind. 

Mrs.  Beatrice  E.  Anderson,  Fort  Worth,  Texas. 

Market  for  American  Heiresses. 

There  has  been  more  than  one  similar  scandal  involving 
members  of  the  high  nobility  and  rich  American  girls. 

It  Avill  be  remembered  last  year  there  was  a  stir  created  by 
the  broadcast  announcement  that  Prince  Hugo  Von  Hohenche- 
Oehringen,  Prince  Heinrich  Von  Hanan  and  Baron  Berhard- 
Muenhausen,  accused  an  Englishman,  O^rien,  who  was  al- 
leged to  be  the  agent  of  Berlin  marriage  brokers,  of  attempted 
blackmail. 

Among  the  Americans  whose  names  are  said  to  be  on  the 


158 


^T^  r  %  t   ^ 


MATKIMOXIAL  AGENTS 


list  of  this  marriage  syndicate,  without  their  personal  knowl- 
edge or  consent,  are  the  ^Misses  Angelica  and  Mabel  Gcrr}', 
the  Misses  Nora  and  Fannie  Iselin,  the  Misses  Adeline 
and  Electra  Ilavemeyer,  Jlrs.  Lewis  Rutherford  Morris,  for- 
merly Miss  Katherinc  Clark,  daughter  of  Senator  Clark,  of 
Montana;  ^Irs.   Francis  Burton  Harrison,  formerly  "Miss  Marv 


COININCt  CUPID^S  wiles  159 

Crocker,  daughter  of  Mrs.  George  W.  Crocker;  Miss  Dorothy 
Whitney,  the  Misses  Beatrice  and  Gladys  Mills,  Miss  Gwen- 
dolyn Burden,  and  the  Misses  Florence  and  Euth  Twombly. 

Government  Officials  Eoused  to  Many  Frauds  by  the 

Matrimonial  Agencies  and  Bureaux  Throughout 

THE    Country,    "Agencies"    to    Put    Under 

Ban  the  Swindling  Operations. 

Mrs.  Jennie  Scott,  Arrested  by  Postal  Inspectors,  Tells 
Secrets  of  Her  Matrimonial  Agency. 

The  second  blow  has  been  struck  against  the  affinity  trust, 
of  Chicago,  and  the  second  member  of  the  alleged  trust  in 
Chicago,  Mrs.  Jennie  Scott,  a  woman  of  many  aliases,  by 
Postoffice  Inspector  James  E.   Stuart. 

This  woman  was  arrested  at  her  home,  at  214  Thirty-second 
street,  her  "Cupid  shop,"  where  she  received  thousands  of  let- 
ters, descriptions  and  photographs  of  affinity  seekers  from  all 
over  the  United  States  and  Canada.  She  received  them  in  the 
name  of  "Glinn's  International  Corresponding  Association,"  to 
Join  which  from  $2  to  $5  was  drawn  from  each  affinity.  Thou- 
sands joined. 

Same  Literature  Used  as  in  Marion  Grey  Case. 

Postoffice  Inspectors  A.  E.  Germer  and  Frank  Sheron  worked 
up  the  case  against  the  woman  and  discovered  that  the  same 
literature  was  used  by  this  woman  as  was  used  by  Marion 
Grey,  convicted  for  the  misuse  of  the  mails  in  operating  an 
affinity  matching  business  at  Elgin. 

There  were  some  changes,  however,  in  the  method.  This  is 
shown  in  the  literature  sent  out  by  this  woman.  Her  literature 
explains  to  the  affinities  that  the  business  is  absolutely  honest 
and  above  board,  and  must  be  kept  so.  Under  "special  re- 
duced rates,"  she  drew  in  hundreds  of  women  clients,  many 
of  whom  sent  in  their  pictures. 


](J0 


MATJflAloMAL  ACiE.XT,^ 


COIN  INC   ('rPll)"S  \YUA<:S 


161 


TYPES  OF  "AFFINITIES"  FOUND  BY  MARION  GRAY, 

SKETCHED  IN  COURT  WHERE  BEAUTY  IS  ON  TRIAL 


PCSl»Es'flVl.OWt(l" 


WEALTHY  OWN6ff  Love   Ai.1.  RlOKT 

OF    OBLeW/>r?C  (JorSHENECOS 

THE    MONEV 


C.OOUO    t.lVE 

l-OVE. 


Mrs.  Scott  operated  also  at  3208  Wabash  avenue,  where  she 
liad  a  room  for  receiving  mail.  She  was  known  not  only  as 
Mrs.  Scott,  but  as  E.  L.  Glinn,  ]\Irs.  Jennie  Call.  Mrs.  A.  M. 
Harvey  and  Mrs.  E.  L.  Glinn.  She  lived  on  Thirty-second 
street,  with  her  young  daughter. 


162  MATEIMOXIAL  AGENTS 

Clients  All  Wealthy;  Take  Their  Word  for  It. 

Almost  every  client  on  the  books  of  this  marriage-fostering 
concern  claimed  to  be  worth  from  $5,000  to  £1,000,000  ster- 
ling. 

Many  of  them  were  alleged  to  have  large  incomes.  Some 
were  said  to  have  children  and  are  not  to  be  divorced,  but  still 
seek  life  partners. 

Witnesses  Xeed  a  Shepherd. 

Then,  from  among  the  queer  little  party  huddled  together 
on  the  benches  at  the  rear  of  the  big  court  room — a  helpless, 
shepherdlcss  flock — Mr.  Shirer  began  to  call  out  his  witnesses. 

First  of  the  hungering  souls  who  sought  life  companions 
through  Mrs.  Scott  came  Mrs.  Mary  Quinn,  of  Trenton,  111.,  a 
short,  dumpy  little  person  of  about  thirty-five  or  forty,  who 
was  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  white  hat  she  wore. 

"I  saw  the  ad.,''  she  whispered — it  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  Judge  Bethea  induced  her  to  talk  so  she  could 
be  heard  ten  feet  away — "and  I  answered  it.  They  sent  me  back 
a  circular  and  a  photograph  of  a  nice-looking  fellow  who  was 
said  to  be  rich. 

"I  sent  my  $2  and  wrote  that  I  would  like  to  get  into  cor- 
respondence with  him.  They  sent  me  back  word  that  he  was 
corresponding  with  another  lady  just  then,  and  didn't  want 
any  more  names  at  present,  but  there  was  another  one  just  as 
good. 

Nice  Letters  Lack  Eich  Tone. 

"I  corresponded  with  him  until  three  weeks  before  I  remar- 
ried my  divorced  husband,  last  December.  He  wrote  very  nice 
letters,  but  he  certainly  didn't  sound  rich." 

"You  got  what  you  asked  for,  didn't  you?"  asked  ^\v.  "Mur- 
phy. 

"Oh,  yes,  I  guess  so;  I'm  not  complaining." 

The  uncomplainingness  of  the  alleged  victims  is  the  odd 
feature  of  the  case. 


COI>^ING  CUPID'S  WILES 


163 


JAIL  FOR  CUPID'S  AID. 


Marion    Grey,    Pretty  Love  Broker,    Who 
Was  Sentenced  to  a  Year  in  Prison ' 


IGl  .\l.\TJn,\l()MAI,  Al.KNTS 

Dr.  ^fontgoniory  Porter,  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
Arkansis,  came  all  the  way  frojii  liis  home  in  Pine  Bluff,  to 
say  that  he  had  answered  one  of  Mrs.  Scott's  advertisements 
hut  had  not  paid  the  $5  fee,  '"which  she  charged  the  men  mem- 
hers." 

Porter  C.  Dyer,  a  graduate  of  tlie  Ohio  State  University,  who 
lives  in  Austin,  0.,  said  that  he  paid  the  fee  and  was  disap- 
pointed, "because  the  names  sent  were  not  those  of  refinement 
and  culture,  as  promised  in  the  circulars." 

Airs.  Flora  Scott,  a  restaurant  keeper  at  Middleport,  0.,  tall 
and  not  particularly  stylish,  couldn't  recall  what  any  of  the 
circulars  said,  but  she  Avas  quite  sure  she  hadn't  landed  a  rich 
husband  yet. 

SouTiiKRN  Beauty  Sends  $2. 

The  handsomest  of  the  witnesses  was  ^liss  Avis  Christen- 
berry,  a  stately  brunette  from  ^lemphis,  who  rather  liked  the 
looks  of  the  rich  young  man's  photograph  used  for  bait  and  sent 
in  $3. 

"They  told  me  ho  was  corresponding  with  some  one  else 
just  then,"  she  testified,  "and  I  corresponded  with  two  sub- 
stitutes, but  they  didn't  entertain  me  much." 

Wilson  Schufelt,  a  real  estate  man,  said  that  he  had  rentc<l 
the  matrimonial  headquarters  to  "Mrs,  A.  !M.  Harvey"  for  a 
mail  order  house  business.  !Mrs.  Harvey  got  her  mail  under 
the  names  of  Clinn  and  Hill,  and  when  the  postal  authorities 
became  interested  in  her  she  told  Schufelt  that  her  name  was 
Jennie  Scott.  At  her  home,  21-1  East  I'hirty-second  street,  she 
is  known  as  ]\rrs.  Jennie  Call. 

She  was  indicted  under  the  nanu-  of  (Jlinn.  It  was  testified 
])y  V,.  J.  Beach,  superintendent  of  the  Twenty-second  strecM 
sub-postal  station,  that  the  nialrimonial  agi'ucy  received  from 
oO  to  200  letters  every  day. 

She  was  arraigned  before  Judge  Betliea  and  found  guilty, 
on  April  25,  1008.  and  was  sentenced  to  one  year  in  the  Ifnuse 
of  Torrection.  and  was  fined  .^^OO. 


COINING  CUPID'S  WILES  166 

THE  HORRIBLE  GUNNESS  FARM. 

The   Ripened  Fruit   of  the   Matrimonial   Agency. 

But  the  giant  ])lossom  of  tliis  plant  of  hell  is  not  l)igamy,  not 
swindling,  not  desertion ;  it  is  murder,  wholesale,  ghastly  mur- 
der. For  it  is  the  matrimonial*  agency,  nothing  else,  which  is 
directly  responsible  for  the  unbelievable  horrors  of  the  Gun- 
ness  Murder  Farm,  at  Laporte,  Ind.,  the  revelation  of  the  ex- 
istence of  which  shocked  the  entire  civilized  world  as  it  has  not 
been  shocked  since  the  time  of  the  Borgias. 

This  wholesale  murderess  invariably  lured  her  victims  to 
their  fate  through  advertisements  in  a  "matrimonial  paper,"  or 
through  an  agency.  She  would  insert  the  usual  stereotyped 
"ad."  of  the  wealthy  widow  lady  who  desired  a  mate,  but  al- 
M'ays  a  mate  with  money. 

Always  being  able  to  produce  proof  that  she  was  well-to-do, 
it  was  an  easy  matter  for  her  to  persuade  her  victims  to  visit 
her  at  the  Laporte  farm.  She  invariably  stipulated  that  they 
should  bring  a  substantial  sum  with  them. 

Arriving  at  the  Gunness  farm,  the  prospective  suitors  were 
invariably  impressed  with  the  evidences  of  wealth  and  luxury. 
After  a  stay  of  a  few  days,  during  which  time  the  punning 
murderess  would  find  out  how  much  money  her  victim  had,  and 
whether  he  could  immediately  procure  more  in  the  form  of 
cash,  the  victim  would  be  invited  to  supper  and  his  food 
drugged. 

He  would  then  be  escorted  to  his  room,  where  he  would  soon 
become  unconscious.  Chloroform  was  then  administered,  the 
body  hurled  through  a  chute  to  the  basement,  Avhere  it  would 
be  dismembered  and  placed  in  a  gunnysack. 

The  sack  would  then  be  taken  out  and  buried  in  a  conven- 
ient spot  on  the  farm.  It  was  an  inquiry  from  the  brother 
of  one  of  the  victims,  Andrew  Helgelein,  which  revealed  the 
whole  horrible  affair. 


166 


.MATHi:\lOXlAJ.  AGENTS 


THE    DEATH    HARVESTER. 


A  Crop  on  the  Gunness  Farm, 


COINING  CUPID'S  WILES  167 

It  is  estimated  that  this  woman,  through  the  aid  of  the  matri- 
monial agencies,  murdered  more  people  than  any  other  human 
being  that  ever  lived.  She  exceeded  the  records  of  the  Bend- 
ers, Holmes,  and  even  those  arch-assassins  of  the  middle  ages, 
the  Borgia  s. 

LoMBROso  Discusses  Monster. 

Dr.  Cesare  Lombroso,  of  the  University  of  Milan,  the  world's 
greatest  criminologist,  in  discussing  this  woman,  said: 

"In  general  the  moral  physiognomy  of  the  born  female  crim- 
inal approximates  strongly  to  that  of  the  male.  The  female 
criminal  is  exceedingly  weak  in  maternal  feeling,  inclined  to 
dissipation,  astute  and  audacious,  and  dominates  weaker  beings 
sometimes  by  suggestion,  and  at  other  times  by  muscular  force; 
while  her  love  of  violent  exercise,  her  vices  and  even  her  dress, 
increase  her  resemblance  to  the  stronger  sex. 

"Added  to  these  virile  characteristics  are  often  the  worst 
qualities  of  women;  namely,  an  excessive  desire  for  revenge, 
cunning  cruelty,  love  of  dress  and  untruthfulness,  forming  a 
combination  of  evil  tendencies  which  often  results  in  a  type 
of  extraordinary  wdckedness.  Needless  to  say  these  different 
characteristics  are  not  found  in  the  same  proportion  in  every- 
body. One  criminal  will  be  deficient  in  intelligence,  but  pos- 
sessed of  great  strength,  while  another,  who  is  weak  physically, 
triumphs  over  this  obstacle  by  the  ability  with  which  she  lays 
her  plans. 

"But  when,  by  an  unfortunate  chance,  muscular  strength 
and  intellectual  force  meet  in  the  same  individual,  we  have  a 
female  delinquent  of  a  terrible  type,  indeed. 

"In  short,  we  may  assume  that  if  female-born  criminals  are 
fewer  in  number  than  the  males;  they  are  usually  much  more 
ferocious. 

"What  is  the  explanation?  We  observe  that  the  normal 
woman  is  naturally  less  sensitive  to  pain  than  a  man,  and 
compassion  is  the  offspring  of  sensitiveness.  If  the  one  be 
wanting,  so  will  the  other  be. 


1G«  MATKIMONIAL  ACIENTS 

-'We  also  find  that  women  have  many  traits  in  common  with 
children;  that  their  moral  sense  is  deficient;  that  they  are  re- 
vengeful, jealous,  inclined  to  vengeances  of  a  refined  cruelty. 

"In  ordinary  cases  these  defects  are  neutralized  by  piet}', 
maternity,  Avant  of  passion,  by  weakness  and  an  undeveloped 
intelligence.  But  when  a  morbid  activity  of  the  psychical 
centres  intensifies  the  bad  qualities  of  Avomen,  and  induces  them 
to  seek  relief  in  evil  deeds ;  when  piety  and  maternal  sentiments 
are  wanting,  and  in  tlieir  place  are  strong  passions,  much  mus- 
cular strength  and  a  superior  intelligence  for  the  conception 
and  execution  of  evil,  it  is  clear  that  the  innocuous  semi-crim- 
inal present  in  the  normal  woman  must  be  transformed  into  the 
horn  criminal  more  terrible  than  any  man. 

"What  terrific  criminals  would  children  be  if  they  had  strong 
passions,  muscular  strength  and  sufficient  intelligence ;  and  if, 
moreover,  their  evil  tendencies  were  exasperated  by  a  morbid 
intellectual  activity!  And  women  are  big  children;  their  evil 
tendencies  are  much  more  numerous  and  more  varied  than 
men's,  but  generally  remain  latent.  When  they  are  awakened 
and  excited  they  produce  results  proportionately  greater." 

List  of  thk  Victims. 

Below  is  given  a  i)artial  list  of  the  victims  of  this  inhuman 
monster,  as  it  appeared  in  the  Chicago  American,  Sunday, 
April  2G,  1908: 

Partial  Catalogue  of  IMrs^  CJunnkss'  180  Victims. 

1.  Max   Sorcnson,   ^Frs.    Gunness'   first  husbanil — whom   she 

poisoned. 

2.  Peter  S.  Gunness,  second  Inisband,  whom  slie  kilU'd  witli 

a  meat  axe. 
-■{.     Her  infant  child,  Avhom  she  strangled  to   death. 
4.     Miss  Justina  Loeffler,  of  Elkhart,  Ind.,  believed  to  have 

been  married  to  Johann  Hoch  and  sent  by  him  to  Mrs. 

Gunness  to  be  murdered  and  buried. 
T).     Olaf  Tiinibo.  N'orw(>gian   farm  hand, 


COliVi^U  CUPID'S  WILES  1(39 

a.     Ole  Budsberg,  a  hired  man,  from  lola.  Wis. 
T-9.    Three  well-known  men  of  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  who  have 
disajDpeared  in  the  last  two  years, 

10.  A  horse  trader  from  Montana. 

11.  Jennie   Olsen,    eighteen  years   old,   adopted   daughter   of 

Mrs.   Gunness. 

12.  Henry  Gurholt,  left  Scandinavia,  Wis.,  on  March  13,  1906, 

saying  he  was  going  to  marry  Mrs.   Gunness. 

13.  George  Bradley,  forty  years  old,  of  Tuscola,  111.,  went  to 

La  Porte,  Ind.,  October  20  of  last  year. 

14.  Olaf  Lindboe,  farm  laborer,  of  Chicago,  employed  by  Mrs. 

Gumiess. 

15.  Lee  Porter,  of  Bartonville,  Okla.,  quarreled  with  his  wife 

and  answered  one  of  Mrs.  Gunness'  matrimonial  "ads.*" 
IT.     Crippled  man  from  Medina,  N.  D. 
18-20.     Three  children  of  Mrs.   Gunness  killed  or  burned  in 

house — Myrtle,  aged  11 ;  Lucy,  9 ;  Philip,  5. 

21.  Body  of  unidentified  woman  found  in  ruins  of  burned 

house. 

22.  Strange  baby  left  last  fall  by  man  and  woman,  as  told 

by  Pay  Lamphere,    arrested    as    accomplice    of    Mrs. 
Gunness. 

23.  John  0.  Moe  went  to  La  Porte  from  Elbow  Lake,  Minn., 

day  before  Christmas,  1906,  with  $1,000. 

24.  x\rmat   Hartoonan,   wealthy   Armenian   rug   merchant   of 

Binghamton,  N.  Y..  who  went  to  La  Porte  in  1906  in 
answer  to  a  matrimonial  "ad.*' 

25.  Charles   Neuberg,   of  Philadelphia,   took  $500   and  went 

to  visit  Mrs.  Gunness  in  June,  1906. 

26.  George  Beny,  of  Tuscola,   111.,  went  to  work  for  Mrs. 

Gunness   July,    1905.      He   took   $1,500,   expecting  to 
marry  the  widow. 

27.  John  A.  Lefgren,  aged  forty-eight,  disappeared  from  the 

Chicago   Club,   and  is  believed   to   have   gone  to   Mrs, 
Gunness*   farm. 


170  MATEIMOXIAL  AGEXTS 

28,     E.  J.  Tiefland,  retired  railroad  man,  of  Minneapolis. 
29-30.     A  Los  Angeles  college  professor  and  wife — names  not 
yet  ascertained. 

31.  Andrew  K.   Helgelein,   Aberdeen,    S.   D.,   ranchman,  the 

last  victim,  whose  fate   led  to  the  discovery  of   Mrs. 
Gunness'  crimes. 

32.  Charles  Edman,   farm  laborer,  from  New  Carlisle,   Ind. 

Took  $3,000  in  savings  to  Mrs.  Gunness'  home. 

33.  Frank   Riedinger,   young    German   farmer,    of   Delafield, 

Wis.,  went  to  La  Porte  in  February,  1907. 
3-1.     Babe  seen  by  a  neighbor,  Mrs.  William  Diesslen,  which 
afterward  disappeared. 

35.  Unknown  young  woman  visitor,  seen  to  go  to  Gunness 

house;  never  accounted  for  afterward. 

36.  Unknown  man,  a  Avidower,  and  his  young  son,  went  to 

Mrs.  Gunness'  house  a  year  ago — never  seen  again.   One 
of  the  bodies  found  on  farm  was  that  of  a  small  boy. 
37-57.     Twenty-one  babies  entrusted    to    Mrs.    Gunness'  care 
while  she  was  running  a  "baby  fann"  on  the  outskirts 
of   Chicago   all   disappeared  mysteriously. 
57-180.     Other  unknown  men,  women  and  babies,  who  went 
to  Chicago  and  La  Porte  homes  of  Mrs.  Gunness,  and 
were  never  seen  again,  are  estimated  to  bring  the  grand 
total  of  victims  up  to  180. 
This,  then,  is  the  cro\vning  work  of  the  matrimonial  agency ; 
this  horrid  burying  ground  of  dismembered  bodies,  this  ghastly 
charnel  pit  on  an  Indiana  liillside.     By  their  fniits  ye  shall 
know  them.     In  the  dread  Gunness  Farm  behold  the  ripened 
fruit  of  the  matrimonial  agency. 


OOlNmG  CUPID'S  WILES 


171 


i;--' 


MATIMMOMAI,  AC^KNTS 


IN  LIGHTER  VEIN. 


The  Funny  Side  of  the  Matrimonial  Business. 

TlnTO  is.  iioce?P:iri]y.  the  amusing  side  to  all  tliis  miserablo 
trading  upon  the  affections  of  fools.  Some  of  ihe  letters  sent 
in  to  the  matrimonial  agencies  are  little  less  than  "screams.*" 

Imagine,  if  you  can,  a  big,  husky  farmer,  a  eollarless,  coatless 
son  of  the  T'tah  deserts,  gushing  forth  that  he  ''could  live  and 
die  on  love."  Think  of  a  siaid  and  sober  trained  nurse  who 
lias  arrived  at  the  ripe  age  of  forty  pouring  into  the  ears  of 
the  matrimonial  agent  that  she  "wants  a  man  who  is  a  flower,"' 
and  also  saying  confidingly  that  she  believes  that  she  requires 
a  fow  more  years  in  which  to  prepare  for  the  "solemn  step." 

nnf>   who   i?   :V.)   ;nid    dark.  l>l\i<hin':lv   admifs   thai    she   is  a 


COININU  (JUPlD-fS  WILES  17a 

"young  girl"  of  loving  disposition,  and,  since  love  is  the  destiny 
of  us  all,  prays  for  a  husband  of  fifty  or  thereabouts. 

One  who  describes  herself  as  "lively  and  frolicsome"  frankly 
admits  that  she  is  out  for  the  money  and  can  get  along  without 
the  love  end  of  it  at  all.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  letter 
comes  from  the  Pennsylvania  Dutch  regions. 

Here  are  a  few  of  the  gems: 

Could  Live  axd  Pie  ox  Love. 

Huntsvillp.   Utah. 
Deo.    27,    1902. 
Mrs.   Ellen   Marion. 
Grant   Works.    111. 
My   Dear   Lady : 

I  wish  to  heg  your  pardon  if  I  appear  rude  in  trying  to 
personally  introduce  myself,  but  allow  me  to  assure  yon  that 
I  am  sincere  in  my  quest  for  a  kind  friend,  and  it  is  nothing 
but  the  purest  and  holiest  motives  of  the  human  heart  that 
prompts  the  intrusion. 

I  saw  your  advertisement  in  the  Valley  Farmer,  and  in  it 
I  seem  to  behold  the  image  of  an  ideal  lady,  who  is  well 
worthy  of  the  highest  esteem  and  admiration  from  a  true 
gentleinan,  and  how  happy  and  thankful  should  the  man  be 
who  is  so  fortunate  as  to  captivate  the  love  and  heart  of  so 
noble  a  prize.  Among  many  others  your  advertisement  to  me 
seemed  to  be  the  most  suitable  and  impressive.  While  it  would 
not  be  within  good  taste  to  express  a  great  love  for  you  at 
present,  yet  I  believe  that  I  could  come  as  near  living  and 
dying  on' love  as  the  next  one.  My  object  in  writing  you  is 
to  find  if  there  shoudl  be  a  chord  within  our  natures  that  could 
be  touched  mutually  to  harmonize  with  the  word  love. 

I  have  been  married  and  know  of  the  joy  and  happiness  of 
a  kind  and  loving  companion.  Two  years  ago  deatli  robbed 
me  of  my  greatest  prize  in  life.  Since  then  I  have  been  bach- 
ing it.  i  am  tired  of  roughing  it  alone,  and  if  there  were  only 
some  one  to  meet  me  with  a  kind  smile  of  approval  I  could  work 
much  harder  and  be  a  better  man  for  it.  and  I  dd  most  earnestly 
and  sincerely  solicit  your  correspondence  with  a  view  to  closer 
ties  should  our  natures  prove  congenial. 

Should  you  feel  inclined  to  favor  me  I  would  certainly  feel 
highly  flattered. 

Not  a  Flirt. 

Please  do  not  rank  me  with  the  ordinary  flirts  and  adventur- 
ers, for  I  assure  you  that  I  am  honest  in  my  intentions  and 
would  not  mislead  or  advise  anyone  wrongfully.  My  age  is 
thirty-seven,  height  five  feet  nine  inches,  weight  17.5  pounds. 
have  a  good  moral  character  in  every  respect,  honest  and  indus- 
trious, without  any  bad  habits,  total  abstainer  from  liquor  and 
tobacco,  move  in  the  best  society,  am  of  a  quiet,  kind  and 
loving  disposition.  Home  is  the  dearest  place  to  me  on  earth 
and  I  know  how  to  make  it  happy.  I  can  appreciate  and  know 
tho  real   value  of  a   kind   and   loving   wife,   and   the   dear   lady 


K4 


MATIflMOMAL  AUHNT8 


AROUND  THE  CLOCK  WITH   A  "HOME  HUSBAND"- 


llial  l)00otnos  my  wifo  will  find  in  mo  a  tnio  nnd  honest  hus- 
band, a  kind  and  lovinji  companion,  one  whoso  proatest  aim 
nnd  object  will  1)p  to  make  his  home  and  loved  ones  happj*. 

To  you  the  above  may  have  a  smattering  of  self-praise  and 
flattery,  but  the  facts  art>  wholly  true,  which  I  hope  in  due 
time  will  be  fully  demonstrated.  Should  you  wish  to  liear 
further  from  me  I  shall  be  quite  jdeased  to  furnish  any  infor- 
mation   desired. 

Anxiously  invaitiuf:  your  acquaintance,  I  am. 

Yours  sincerely. 

Jens  Winter. 

With  best  wishes  and  (•omi)liments  of  the  season. 


OOININCI  CUriD'S  WILES  175 

LOVELORN  WAILS. 

I  want  a  man  who  is  a  flower,  with  love  and  affection  oozing 
from  all  its  petals.  jNIaybe,  however,  I  need  a  few  more  years' 
preparation  for  the  most  solemn  of  steps — matrimony.  I  ad- 
mire a  man  of  good  physique,  kind,  gallant,  conscientious,  of 
good  morals  as  can  be  expected  nowadays,  home-loving,  and 
fond  of  children. — Application  for  a  husband  from  Catherine 
M.  Barnes,  trained  nurse,  aged  40,  Indianapolis. 

Love  is  the  destiny  of  us  all.  At  times  it  seems  it  is  gomg 
to  side-track  and  pass  us.  Therefore,  I  ask  you  to  help  me 
to  find  a  handsome  man  of  50  or  over  who  has  some  money 
and  can  make  more. 

I  am  a  young  girl  of  loving  disposition;  do  not  powder,  ex- 
cept on  special  occasions;  can  cook,  and  know  how  to  dress 
on  nothing  or  little.  I  want  love  and  fidelity.  Do  not  send  me 
the  name  of  any  traveling  men. 

I  am  39  and  dark. — Miss  Ella  Miller,  837  Spring  Garden 
street,  Philadelphia. 

Introduce  me  to  a  widow  with  money  who  wants  a  good 
entertainer  and  honest  man.  I  have  no  funds,  but  don't  tell 
her  that.  I  play,  sing  and  recite  well. — Adam  Werker,  Glen 
Ellyn,  111. 

Her  Ideal  Husband. 

•'My  ideal  must  be  tall,"  suggests  Miss  Mary  Hester,  from 
Wayland,  N.  Y.,  "and  a  gentleman  in  every  sense  of  the  word. 
He  must  be  of  good  standing  socially  and  mo^all3^  He  must 
be  of  temperate  habits,  kind,  generous,  affectionate,  devoted — 
a  man  of  ability,  who  would  be  a  companion  socially,  intellec- 
tually and  morally  to  a  true,  pure,  devoted  wife.'" 

She  says  she  would  ask  for  no  more. 


76 


-UATIU.UO.N  lAL  AU Ji-N'  Tti 


WEEXCELl/V 

IVIWSBPER 

c 


M  D • LOGAN 
ILLUSTRATING 

COMPANY 
153  LA  SALLE  ST 

CHICAGO 


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COlNi.NU  CUriD'fS  WILES 


177 


M  D  LOGAN 
ILLUSTRATING 

COMPANY 
153  LA  SALLE  ST 

CHICAGO 


(^) 


178 


MATKIMO-XIAL  AGJi.XT:^ 


M  D  LOGAN 
ILLUSTRATING 

COMPANY 
153  LA  SALLI^ST 

CHICAGO 


/V&i.^-S'   VL     o 


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COINING  CUPID'S  WILES 


179 


^'^7;;^..-X^'^ 


180 


MATKiMUXlAL  Ml ES'r>. 


'read  us  -bout  WHUT  UE  folks  in  PITTSBURG  AN'  NEWPORT  IS 


TD  RUTHEt^   BE   MARRIED    TO   A     WOMAN     WHO     WAS     REFORMIN* 
THINGS   OUTS  DE   DE   HOII<;f    riAw    im   lji-t.i 


NG3  OUTSIDE   DE   HOUSE   DAN    IN  HIT." 


COINING  CUPIDS  WILES  181 


This   Oxe  Is   Keal  Fhank. 


Here  is  auother  letter  from  Eeading,  Pa : 

Dear  Sir:  I  notice  by  Sunday's  paper  that  you  are  looking 
for  a  wife.  Now,  strange  to  relate,  I  am  looking  for  a  hus- 
band. I  don't  know  what  your  requirements  are,  but  I  do  know 
mine,  and  the  chief  ones  of  them  are  money,  a  good  home, 
less  work  and  worry,  and  happiness.  If  love  comes,  too,  I 
shall  not- object,  although  I  have  lived  long  enough  to  realize 
that  there  can  be  a  sort  of  lukewarm  happiness  without  love. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  I  judge  my  capacity  is  sufficiently  large 
to  satisfy  the  sort  of  a  man  I  judge  you  to  be.  Now,  for  the 
next  item  of  importance — myself.  I  am  tall  and  slender,  five 
feet  six  inches  high,  and  quite  "figuresque,"  as  one  of  my  girl 
friends  tells  me.  I  am  of  the  Irish- American  t}'pe;  hair 
medium  in  shade  and  profuse  as  to  cpantity;  deep-set,  very 
bright  gray  eyes;  good  carriage,  on  account  of  which  strangers 
often  consider  me  haughty — an  entirely  erroneous  idea. 

Am  of  a  lively,  frolicsome  nature.  I  am  full  of  fun,  and  no 
matter  how  black  things  are  I  always  find  something  to  laugli 
at.  I  am  twenty-three  years  old,  and  decidedly  domestic,  that 
being,  in  fact,  my  only  accomplishment.  I  am  artistic  only 
along  some  lines ;  have  no  musical  talent  and  am  not  an  artist, 
but  I  love  both  devotedly.  Am  very  practical,  in  fact,  and  a 
good  housekeeper.  There  is  lots  more  I  might  tell  you,  but 
we  will  call  this  enough  for  the  present.  Should  like  to  know 
something  about  you,  and  hope  you  will  be  as  truthful  and 
frank  as  I  have  been.  Sincerely  yours, 

Mary  Anderson. 


18jJ  MATlUMU.NiAL  AUE.NTS 

ONE  OF  THE  LUCKY  ONES. 

A  Matrimonial  Agent  Captures  a  Rich  Husband  and  Retires 
from  Business. 

Mamie  ]\laric  Sclmltz,  a  matrimonial  agent,  outwits  the 
police  and  postal  authorities  after  being  raided  and  broken  up, 
nwves  to  other  quarters,  continues  business,  finds  a  rich  man 
seeking  a  wife  among  her  patrons  and  marries  him. 

September  11,  the  German- American  Agency,  run  by  Mamie 
Marie  Sehultz,  3150  Calumet  avenue,  was  raided  by  Detective 
Wooldridge,  the  literature  seized  and  destroyed.  Mamie  Marie 
Sehultz  was  fined  $25  by  Justice  Hurley.  The  evidence  ob- 
tained was  submitted  to  the  postal  authorities  for  action. 

Mamie  Marie  Sehultz  fled  to  Oak  Park,  where  she  continued 
her  matrimonial  agency.  After  she  moved  to .  Oak  Park  she 
was  notified  "by  order  of  the  town  board"  to  vacate,  but  she 
laughed  at  the  order  and  enjoyed  the  newspaper  notoriety  she 
attained,  for  it  only  increased  her  business.  It  is  said  she 
made  thousands  of  dollars  out  of  her  matrimonial  agency. 

With  a  stealth  that  is  characteristic  of  his  art,  Cupid  has 
accomplished  what  Oak  Park  officials  had  been  trying  to  do 
for  two  years.  He  has  closed  out  the  Oak  Park  matrimonial 
agency  by  making  a  victim  of  his  promoter  in  that  vicinity, 
Marie  Sehultz,  manager  of  the  matchmakers'  concern. 

The  postmaster,  United  States  marshal  and  several  of  the 
town  officers  yesterday  received  letters  signed  '*;Mrs.  J.  D.  Ed- 
wards," announcing  that  Marie  Sehultz  "had  been  caught  in 
her  own  net"  and  had  deserted  the  village  for  a  "]ialatiar'  home 
in  Seattle,  Wash.,  where  her  new  husband,  J.  D.  Edwards,  is 
a  wealthy  lumber  dealer. 

Swift  Cot'htstiip  by  Edwards. 

Edwards,  it  is  said,  arrived  in  Oak  Park  on  Tuesday,  and 
after  a  whirlwind  courtship  this  "liOchinvar  who  came  out  nf 
the  West"  had  won  the  whole  matrimonial  ngencv. 


"Marie,""  the  name  in  whieli  all  her  extensive  advertising 
was  done,  has  defeated  the  officials  of  Chicago,  Oak  Park,  and 
even  the  United  States  postoffice  inspector,  in  every  effort  they 
made  to   suppress  her  enterprise. 

To  Postmaster  Hutchinson  she  wrote  requesting  that  all 
letters  addressed  to  the  agency  be  returned  to  the  writers,  as 
she  didn't  "want  any  more  of  their  money/'  The  postoffice 
force  was  luirdened  with  the  task  of  mailing  back  to  some  500 
lovelorn  men  and  maidens  the  letters  w^hich  had  accumulated 
in  ''■j\Iarie's"''  postoffice  box. 

But  the  bleatings  of  the  overgrown  calf  from  Utah,  and  the 
wails  of  the  maiden  lady  W'ho  desires  a  "flower"  for  a  mate  are 
Ixitli  eclipsed  by  the  mushy  outpourings  of  a  Chicago  business 
man. 

This  fellow  evidently  possesses  the  artistic  temperament. 
Xot  only  is  he  moved  to  write  prose  poetry,  "to  bay  the  moon 
of  love,"  but  he  insists  on  inserting  illustrative  sketches  of  an 
ardent  wooing. 

He  has  forged  the  white  heat  of  his  passion,  which  evidently 
puts  Ella  Wheeler  "Wilcox  at  her  fiercest  to  shame,  into  pic- 
tures. Here  we  behold  him,  hand  in  hand  with  his  beloved, 
under  the  kindly  stars.  There,  more  prosaic,  it  is  true,  bat 
still  quite  passionate,  is  the  drawing  room  scene,  with  the  lady 
seated  on  his  knee.  Behold  the  works  of  genius  when  love 
impels. 

The  Festive  Farm  Hand  Frivols. 

Among  the  hundreds  of  applications  for  a  wife  Detective 
Wooldridge  fonnd  one  from  Jacob  C.  Miller,  of  Martinsville. 
Pa.     Miller  filled  out  the  application  blank  as  follows: 

Q.     Where  born?     A.     Lancaster,  Pa. 

Q.     What  language  do  you  speak?    A.     English. 

Q.     Nationality?     A.     "White. 

Q.     Weight?     A.     130. 

Q.     Color  of  eyes?     A.     CrAuisli  blue. 

Q.     Color  of  hair?     A.     Brown  on  a  little  patch. 


184  AEATIUMONIAL  AGENTS 

Q.     Complexion?     A.     Fair. 

Q.     CircumfGrenco  of  chest?     A.     36   inches. 

<).     Circnmfcrenec  of  waist?     A.     30  inches. 

Q.  0 ircinnfcren CO  of  bend  (jnst  above  oars)?  A.  13 
in  oil  OS. 

().     C'ircmriforonco  of  nock?     A.     Wonr    l.")'..   coHar. 

Q.     Profession?     A.     Farm   hand. 

Q.     Income   per  year?     A.     Xothing. 

Q.  Extent  of  education  :  common,  bifrli  school  or  univer- 
sity?    A.     Common. 

•  }.  Do  yon  use  tobacco  or  liquor?  A.  1  use  a  lililo  tobacco. 
])iit  no  liquor. 

Q.     How  much   real  estate  do  you  own  ?     A.     Xothing. 

Q.  Do  any  of  the  ])ictures  we  have  submitted  to  you  suit, 
and  will  you  marry?  A.  Yos.  the  one  with  tlio  turnod-up 
nose. 

().  If  we  secured  you  a  wife  worth  -^^rjO.OOtt  wo\ild  you  bo 
willing  to  pay  us  n  small  commission  for  our  trouble?     A.     Y'^s. 

TITF,   KAKFTJ   A\D  TTTF  PRESS. 

So:mT'  Xew.'^pat'kus  Ai;i;  lirxcoi-n.  Whim-:  ()ttiei{s  Witjjxolv 
Assist  Pascals. 

Strangely  enough,  the  abomination  known  as  the  ''matri- 
monial agency,"  bureau  or  what-not,  has  succeeded  in  hood- 
winking the  great  American  press  to  a  certain  extent. 

Advertisements  appear  in  leading  journals  all  over  the 
country.  Without  this  the  great  fraud  could  not  exist  ten 
minutes.  There  are  numberless  instanoes,  wc  are  quite  sure, 
where  the  publishers  have  no  suspicion  that  they  are  further- 
ing the  cause  of  scoundrels.  In  others,  we  regret  to  say,  the 
motive  for  accepting  these  advertisements  is  traceable  to  noth- 
ing more  or  less  than  just  the  jdain  greed  of  the  ptiblisher. 

It   is  impossible   for  a   privnie  citizen    to   pro])hesy  whothor 


18/ 


('()lN'lN(i   Ci;Pl])\S  WJLES 

HOW  TO  TPAIM  A  I  !USBy\ND 


the  entire  power  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  can 
purify  the  columns  of  some  of  our  greedy  newspapers. 

These  matrimonial  agencies  are  frauds.  The  newspaper  man 
knows  this  and  takes  their  money  for  the  advertisements,  and 
becomes  a  messenger  of  a  crime  for  a  paltry  sum,  and  if  I 
were  the  District  Attorney  I  would  get  busy  and  call  the 
attention  of  the  Postmaster  General  to  these  alleged  news- 
papers for  the  purpose  of  shutting  off  their  distribution  through 
the  mails. 

PTerc  are  a  few  samples  of  the  arl?  appearing  in  the  repu- 
table flaily   press  of  the  enuntrv: 


186 


MATKIMO.N J AL  AGENT>S 


aVIATRIMONIAL  AGENCIES'  ADVERTISEMENTS 

FOR     RICH     WIVES     AND     HUSBANDS. 


They  Appear  in  All  the  Leading  Newspapers  Throughout 
the  Country. 

This  is  a  very  select  list  of  ten  ladies  picked  at  random  from 
onr  books  hj  one  of.  the  leading  newspaper  reporters  of  this 
city,  February  1,  1904: 

Minnesota  Maiden — 30  yrs.,  5  ft.  2  in.,  weight  128  lbs.; 
brown   hair,   blue   eyes;  has  $10,500. 

Missouri  Maiden — 28  yrs.,  5  ft.  7  in., 
blue  eyes,  German;  has  $1,800. 

Pennsylvania  Maiden — 20  yrs.,  5  ft. 


weight  150  lbs.;  blonde, 
weight  132  lbs. ; 


4  m. 


Can  a.  Ma.n  or  Womatti  Know  Ctvch  Other  Befbre  fSstfriat^e^ 


BEF-ORE. 

"When  he  was  wooing  her, 
Romeo  devoted  his  time  to 
thinking  of  delicate  little  atten- 
tions that  he  conid  pay  Juliet, 
and  of  Ihivigs  he  coiiU  (Jo  to 
make  her  happy." 


ARTER. 

On  Christmas  he  is  liable  fd 
shove  a  dollar  or  two  at  hia 
wile,  remarking;  "Grt  yourJ 
self  something.  I  doot  know 
what  you  want,  ami  I  haven'D 
time  to  fool 'with  it." 


OOINIXG  CUPID'S  WILES 


187 


"AN-  DAT  WOMEN'S  CLUBS  rs  DE  CAUSE  OF  ALL  OE  PO'  LlTTLlfiE- 
CLECTED  CHILLEN." 


188  MATKIMONIAL  AGENTS 

light  hair,  blue  eyes;  will  inherit  $80,000,  provided  she  is  mar- 
ried on  her  81st  birthday. 

Wisconsin  Widow — -19  yrs.,  5  ft.  3  in.,  weight  130  lbs. ;  black 
hair,  black  eyes;  no  children;  worth  $15,000.  Will  marry 
elderly  man. 

Indiana  Maiden — 29  yrs.,  5  ft.  4  in.,  weight  122  lbs. ;  brown 
liair,  blue  eyes ;  pretty  and  worth  $7,000.    Would  marry  farmer. 

Illinois  Maiden — 21  yrs.,  5  ft.  8  in.,  weight  140  lbs. ;  chest- 
nut hair,  blue  eyes;  worth  $40,000;  is  a  cripple.  Will  marry 
kind  man  who  will  overlook  her  misfortune. 

N'ew  Jersey  Widow — 28  yrs.,  4  ft.  11  in.,  Aveight  150  lbs.; 
])rown  hair,  blue  eyes,  one  child :  worth  $35,000.  Will  marry 
and  assist  husband  financially. 

Ohio  Farmer's  Daughter — Orphan,  25  yrs.,  5  ft.  7  in. ;  brown 
luiir,  gray  eyes;  has  large  farm.  Alone,  will  marry  immediate- 
ly, farmer  preferred. 

Montana  Maiden — Half-breed  Indian,  age  25,  5  ft.  4  in.,  130 
lbs.;  black  hair,  black  eyes;  has  large  rancli.  Will  marry 
honest  white  man. 

Illinois  Bachelor  Girl — Age  35,  5  ft.  7  in.,  H^iO  lbs.;  black 
hair,  brown  eyes ;  OAvns  fine  estate,  valued  at  thousands.  Would 
marry  gentleman  of  equal  wealth. 

Pennsylvania. 

Beautiful  maiden  lady,  refined  and  well  educated:  American; 
))londe,  ago  37  years,  height  5  ft.  -1  in.,  weight  10(5  pounds; 
worth  $30,000. 

Nebraska. 

Stylish  young  brunette,  fond  of  society :  American ;  age  2S 
years,  height  5  ft.  3  in.,  weight  135  pounds;  Baptist,  and  worth 
$25,000 ;  income  $3,000  a  year. 

Otiio. 

Stately  widow,  age  49  years,  hatidsome  and  remarkably  well 
preserved;  height  5  ft.  6  in.,  weight  IfiO  lbs.:  no  childnMi : 
worth  $5,000;  wants  elderlv  husband. 


COlNiiNG  CUPlD'tt  WILES 


189 


Kentucky. 
Beautiful  blonde  Southern  girl,  educated  and  refined;  age  21, 
height  5  ft.  2  in.,  weight  115  lbs. ;  American,  and  worth  $10,000; 
wants  nice-looking  husband. 

Pretty  little  girl,  age  19  years,  height  5  ft.  3  in.,  weight  112 
lbs.;  American;  worth  $10,000.  Says  she  is  very  anxious  to 
marry. 

Boston,  Ma.ss. 

Fine-looking  lady,  age  37  years,  height  5  ft.  3  in.,  weight 
140  lbs.;  American.  Protestant,  and   worth  $20,000. 


190  MATEIMONIAL  AGENTS 

Yoimg  lady,  blonde,  age  25  years,  weight  128  lbs.,  height  5 

ft.;  American,  Methodist;  income  $720  a  year;  worth  $25,000. 

Chicago^  III. 

Maiden,  age  26  years,  height  5  ft.  4  in.,  weight  140  lbs. ; 

Scotch,  Protestant,  Methodist;  income  $1,200  per  year;  worth 

$75,000. 

MoNEOE  Co.^  Pa. 
Young  lady,  age  23  years,  very  pretty,  height  5  ft.   5  in., 
weight  150  lbs.;  German,  Methodist;  worth  $12,000. 
DovER^  ]Sr.  H. 
Stylish,   brown-eyed  lady,  age  24  years,  height  5  ft.  6  in., 
weight  135  pounds;  American,  Methodist;  worth  $50,000. 
ISTew  York  City. 
Young  widow,  age  32  years,  height  5  ft.  5  in.,  weight  140 
lbs.;  Irish  Catholic;  worth  $40,000. 
Utah. 
Maiden  lady,  age  not  mentioned,  height  5  ft.,  weight  120 
lbs.;  worth  $35,000. 

And  all  this,  ridiculous,  murderous  and  otherwise,  is  all  out- 
side the  pale  of  the  law.  The  matrimonial  agency  is  a  crime 
per  se.  It  is  a  criminal  institution.  It  has  been  pronounced 
to  be  such  by  the  best  and  foremost  judges  of  the  United  States. 
Germany  and  Great  Britain. 

Judge  Klerbach,  sitting  in  the  case  of  a  marriage  broker  at 
Goettingen,  Germany,  in  1903,  declared  that  the  marriage 
l)roker  was  a  criminal  in  intent,  from  the  very  nature  of  his 
business. 

In  the  celebrated  case  of  Alan  Murray  vs.  Jcanie  McDonald 
at  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  in  1898,  Justice  Grahamc  pronounced 
from  the  judicial  scat  one  of  the  most  scathing  arraignments 
of  the  marriage  bureau  ever  .delivered.  "Leeches  upon  the 
body  social,  blood-suckers,  destroyers  of  womanhood,  abomina- 
tions of  the  bottomless  pit,"  were  some  of  the  phrases  used  by 
Justice  Grahame  in  denouncing  Murray. 


OOIMJXG  CUPID'S  WILES  191 

In  the  pett}''  sessions  at  Tinahely,  Ireland,  Justice  O'Gorman 
in  May,  1905,  is  reported  in  the  Wieklow  People,  a  newspaper 
which  has  a  wide  circulation  in  the  South  of  Ireland,  as  fiercely 
denouncing  the  marriage  hroker  business.  The  Justice  de- 
clared that  the  marriage  broker  was  a  wolf,  "preying  upon 
the  weaknesses  of  humanity,  a  pander  to  the  lowest  instincts" ; 
that  he  had  no  right  to  demand  the  interference  of  the  law  in 
his  behalf,  but  rather  that  the  law  should  always  be  exercised 
for  the  suppression  of  his  nefarious  traffic. 
Same  Thing  jSTeaeer  Home. 

To  get  nearer  home.  In  the  Chicago  American,  February  12, 
1903,  Judge  jSTeely,  in  the  case  of  the  State  vs.  Hattie  Howard, 
declared  from  the  bench  that  to  "sell  men  and  women  in  mar- 
riage is  the  height  of  crime."     Judge  Xeely  further  said: 

"Men  and  women  who  engage  in  this  business  of  promoting 
matrimony  for  money  are  guilty  of  crime.  It  is  opposed  to 
the  fundamental  principles  of  society.  Such  a  practice  should 
under  no  circumstances  be  tolerated.  This  practice  should  be 
stopped.  The  trade  should  be  killed.  The  courts  should  make 
it  their  business  to  discourage  this  thing  in  a  way  that  may 
be  easily  understood." 

Judge  Kohlsaat,  of  Chicago,  has  inveighed  against  the  prac- 
tice in  equally  vehement  terms.  Judge  Kohlsaat  declares  that 
"the  Police  Department  of  Chicago  is  entitled  to  great  credit 
for  what  it  has  done  in  discouraging  this  business.  I  hope  it 
will  continue  its  vigilance  until  every  promoter  of  marriages 
of  this  character  has  been  compelled  to  leave  the  city.  They 
should  make  such  criminals  give  the  city  a  wide  berth." 

There,  then,  is  the  law.  The  business  is  a  crime  in  its  very 
nature.  It  leads  to  bigamy  and  wholesale  murder.  It  is  made 
the  instrument  of  the  thief,  the  swindler  and  the  murderer. 
How  much  longer  will  the  American  people  look  with  calmness 
upon  these  practices,  upon  these  abominations,  which  make  a 
stench  of  the  very  air  of  the  great  and  free  country  in  which 
we  live?     The  answer  is  up  to  you. 


THE  GREAT  MISTAKE, 


OUR  PENAL  SYSTEM  IS  A  RELIC  OF  EARLY 
SAVAGERY. 

Our  whole  penal  system  needs  changing.  It  is  a  relic  of 
barbarism,  and  stands  a  monument  to  the  early  savagery  of 
the  human  race. 

How  is  it  possible  for  a  man  or  woman  to  lead  an  upright, 
useful  life  after  they  once  come  under  the  ban  of  the  law? 
Society  combines  to  hound  them  down.  They  are  forbidden 
to  place  themselves  on  an  equality  with  others  by  narrow, 
human  prejudice — the  "holier  than  thou''  attitude  of  that 
portion  of  tbe  public  which  has  not  yet  been  ''found  guilty." 

We  are  Pharisees,  all,  and  sit  in  judgment  on  our  fellow- 
man,  because  we  do  not  yet  realize  the  mixture  of  evil  and 
good  that  is  in  every  man — none  are  exempt — only  some  are 
caught  and  punished. 

]\Ien  have  come  to  us,  desperate,  despairing  men,  crying: 
"For  God's  sake,  what  are  we  to  do?  If  we  get  a  job  some- 
one will  tell  our  employers  we  have  'done  time,'  and  we  arc 
tired.  If  they  find  us  on  the  street,  we're  arrested.  Where 
can  Ave  go  and  what  can  we  do?" 

A  man  may  commit  murder  and  not  be  a  criminal,  and 
yet  a  sneaktbief  is  always  a  criminal  and  every  burglar  a 
potential  murderer. 

Social  conditions  produce  criminals.  As  well  expect  a  rose 
1o  l)loom  in  a  swamj)  as  human  nature  to  flower  in  the  slums. 

All  our  prisons  are  hotbeds  of  tul)erculosis  and  most  prison 
|)bysicians  liold  their  positions  through  political  pull. 

In  our  opinion  a  greater  distinction  should  be  made  betwecMi 
the  penitentiary  and  house  of  correction.     Petty  misdemean- 


UUH  PE.NAL  SYSTEM  193 

ants  should  not  l)e  branded  with  the  prison  stigma.     We  also 
lavor  suspended  sentence  for  first  offenders. 

The  crime  and  its  punishment  should  be  separated.  At 
present  the  personal  equation  does  not  enter  into  the  case 
when  a  judge  imposes  sentence.  The  man's  environment,  what 
leads  him  to  break  the  law,  and  how  best  to  help  this  par- 
ticular man,  all  are  questions  that  should  be  carefully  con- 
sidered before  sentence  is  pronounced. 

Intelligence  in  Punishing  Crime. 

A  student  of  prison  affairs  once  said  that  the  prison  popu- 
lation consists  of  two  classes — people  who  never  ought  to  have 
been  sent  to  prison  and  people  who  never  ought  to  be  allowed 
to  leave  it.  It  is  unfortunate  that  students  interested  in  either 
one  of  these  classes  are  too  often  apt  to  forget  the  importance 
of  the  other. 

There  are  many  habitual  criminals,  weak  persons  readily  giv- 
ing way  to  temptation,  who  should  not  be  classified  as  pro- 
fessionals. The  professionals  are  only  those  who  deliberately 
set  about  supporting  themselves  by  crime.  These  are  the  ones 
who  are  among  all  criminals  most  unlikely  to  change  their 
ways,  and  it  was  for  their  control  that  Detective  Wooldridge 
suggested  some  years  ago  that  after  several  convictions  such 
criminals  should  be  given  a  special  trial  to  decide  whether  they 
were  true  professionals  or  not,  and  if  they  were,  they  should  be 
imprisoned  for  life. 

If  more  attention  were  given  to  professional  crime  and  if 
harsher  methods  were  used  in  protecting  society  from  it,  the 
result  would  be  merciful  in  the  end — merciful  both  to  the 
citizens  protected  from  such  crime  and  to  the  men  who,  as 
conditions  now  are,  graduate  every  year  into  such  careers. 

The  "Silent  System"  is  a  Crime  Against  Criminals. 

The  penitentiary  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania, 
at  Philadelphia,  in  1907,  was  the  only  prison  in  America  con- 
ducted on  what  is  known  as  the  "silent  system." 


194  QUE  PENAL  SYSTEM 

In  this  grim  edifice  a  man  sentenced  to  twenty  years  im- 
prisonment might  pass  all  of  that  time  buried  from  sight  in 
his  cell,  seeing  only  his  keeper,  the  chaplain,  the  doctor  and 
the  schoolmaster,  and  for  twenty  minutes  in  every  six  weeks 
he  would  he  allowed  to  talk  with  a  near  relative. 

This  man  loses  his  identity  the  moment  he  enters  the  prison 
gates.  A  black  cap  is  drawn  over  his  head  and  he  is  led  to 
a  cell  in  one  of  the  many  corridors  that  radiate  from  the 
central  tower  like  spokes  from  the  hub  of  a  wheel.  He  is 
known  tliereafter  by  a  number. 

The  cell  in  which  he  eats  and  sleeps  and  works  is  a  little 
larger  than  the  average  prison  cell,  and  more  completely  fur- 
nished— as  it  must  hold  his  bed,  his  lavatory,  his  dishes  and 
a  place  for  eating,  his  work,  his  every  possession,  and  such 
books  as  he  may  secure  from  the  prison  library. 

His  front  door  opens  on  a  corridor  and  is  kept  ajar  on 
a  heavy  chain  so  the  prison  guards  may  watch  him. 

His  back  door  opens  on  a  plot  of  ground  about  8x10  feet. 
It  is  surrounded  and  cut  off  from  all  communication  from 
every  living  human  being  by  a  brick  wall.  Only  the  watch- 
man in  the  central  tower  and  the  birds  that  wing  their  way 
over  the  prison  can  see  him  in  his  little  yard.  Eobinson  Crusoe 
on  his  deserted  island  could  not  be  more  utterly  lonely. 

In  this  tiny  yard  is  a  circular  path  worn  smooth  and  pressed 
deep  into  the  soil  by  the  feet  of  despairing  men — ^liis  prede- 
cessors. 

The  prisoner  is  forbidden  oven  the  negative  pleasure  of  going 
out  into  this  God-forsaken  walled  plot  of  bare  ground 
except  for  one  hour  a  day. 

In  his  gloomy  cell  the  prisoner  drags  out  the  "task"  given 
him  to  escape  insanity.  He  fears  to  be  idle  without  the  sound 
of  a  human  voice  in  his  ear  or  the  sight  of  a  human  face  to 
relieve  his  awful  loneliness. 

To   lengthen   these  "tasks"  the   State   of   Pennsylvania   has 


OUR  PENAL  SYSTEM  195 

provided  primitive  hand-looms,  some  100  years  old,  and  other 
discarded  makeshifts  of  man's  industrial  infancy. 

Not  for  him  has  the  world  progressed  beyond  the  cave- 
man's day.  Perhaps  he  is  a  skilled  mechanic,  a  man  accus- 
tomed to  the  swift  play  of  machinery,  the  grip  of  tool  on  mate- 
rial. He  is  condemned  to  manufacture  by  primitive  methods 
the  clothes  he  wears  to  keep  him  from  quite  going  mad. 

Extreme  Methods  Faulty. 

As  between  the  abominable  "contract"  and  "lease"  systems 
and  this  reversion  to  blind  seclusion,  is  there  no  human  method 
to  be  found  of  apportioning  the  convict's  labor? 

Yet  No.  99,  locked  away  in  his  solitary  cell  in  the  Phila- 
delphia prison,  must  toil  laboriously,  denying  his  brain  and 
hand  their  cunning,  with  a  pretense  at  occupation.  He  is  not 
sharing  in  the  world's  work.  He  knows  this  child's  play  of 
making  something  that  no  one  needs  on  an  instrument  left 
over  from  the  twelfth  century  is  futile  and  foolish. 

How  shall  he  meet  and  battle  with  the  great  world  of  com- 
merce and  labor  after  twenty  years  of  this?  In  what  way  is 
this  make-believe  fitting  him  for  liberty? 

Some  few  in  the  Philadelphia  prison  escape  the  fate  mapped 
out  for  them.  There  are  800  cells,  and  there  are  at  present 
about  1,100  prisoners.  Naturally,  some  must  "double  up." 
And  then  the  regular  domestic  work  of  the  institution  must 
be  done,  tasks  at  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  keep  pris- 
oners separated  or  wholly  silent. 

And  so  the  "silent  system"  is  not  entirely  silent.  But,  we 
protest,  that  is  not  the  fault  of  the  prison  management,  nor 
is  it  that  of  the  good  citizens  who  seventy-eight  years  ago  de- 
vised and  built  this  prison,  the  only  one  of  its  kind  in 
America. 

Men  are  unfitted  for  after-life  under  the  "silent  system." 
They  come  out  of  prison  at  the  end  of  their  terms  with  shuf- 
fling gait  and  incoherent  speech  and  unskilled  hands. 


196  CUE  PEXAL  SYSTEM 

Cut  off  from  all  obligation  to  family  or  friends,  the  pris- 
oner's whole  spiritual  nature  is  bound  to  deteriorate.  Will 
he  be  a  better  citizen,  a  more  loving  father  or  husband  or  son, 
when  he  is  released? 

The  prison  at  Philadelphia  is  a  model  of  cleanliness,  man- 
agement, discipline  and  sanitation.  The  warden,  Charles  C. 
Church,  is  humane  and  intelligent;  the  guards  above  the  av- 
erage in  character. 

And  yet  Pennsylvania's  crime  against  her  criminal  popula- 
tion is  appalling.  All  she  does  for  her  unfortunate  offender 
is  to  guard  him  securely,  shelter  him  in  cleanliness,  feed  and 
clothe  him — and  hold  him  against  the  day  of  his  release. 

These  are  necessary  things,  but  it  is  more  necessary  that 
the  state  turn  back  the  criminal  at  least  no  worse  than  sihe 
found  him  when  committed  to  her  care. 

She  could  turn  him  out  a  better  man  morally,  better  equipped 
to  gain  a  livelihood,  in  fair  physical  health,  and  certainly 
Avithout  mental  taint  or  bias  due  to  his  imprisonment. 

Jails  Make  50,000  Criminals  a  Year. 

If  the  jails  and  lockups  in  our  country — 4,000  or  5,000  in 
number — are  in  truth,  as  they  have  been  often  aptly  termed, 
in  most  cases  compulsory  schools  of  crime,  maintained  at  the 
public  expense,  we  shall  have  from  this  quarter  alone  an  ac- 
cession to  the  criminal  classes  in  each  decade  of  perhaps  50,000 
trained  experts  in  crime.  Surely,  almost  any  change  in  deal- 
ing with  the  young,  with  the  beginners  in  lawbrcaking,  would 
be  an  improvement  on  the  prevailing  system.  Jails  and  prisons, 
so  constructed  and  managed  as  to  keep  separate  their  in- 
mates, would  afford  an  adequate  remedy  for  the  evil.  Until 
this  can  be  done  it  would  be  far  better  to  cut  down  largely 
the  number  of  arrests  and  committals  of  the  young. 

"It  is  absurd  to  argue  that  life  in  the  penitentiary  is  con- 
ducive to  moral  betterment,  for  all  the  conditions  are  against 
this  cheerful  theory.     In  Jail  a  man  meets  criminals.     The 


OUR    jnal  system 


19-: 


198  OUii  PEiSAL  SYSTEM 

whole  system  makes  for  greater  criminality  on  the  release  of 
the  prisoner.  He  has  time  to  plan  fresh  onslaughts  on  so- 
ciety. His  incarceration  further  embitters  him  against  tlu' 
world.  He  looks  with  malicious  envy  on  those  who  have  es- 
caped the  punishment  which  he  has  had  to  suffer.  When  he 
is  turned  out  of  prison  he  is  ready  for  further  felonies — only 
now  he  has  learned  msre  caution,  and  for  tliis  reason  ho  is 
inore  dangerous  than  he  was  when  he  entered  the  institution.'^ 

When  a  man  has  served  two  prison  sentences  without  being 
convinced  of  the  futility  of  the  attempt  to  live  without  hon- 
est work,  it  is  evident  that  he  has  abandoned  all  idea  of  being 
a  good  citizen  and  has  made  up  his  mind  to  prey  upon 
t^ociety. 

"Then/'  says  Mr.  Wooldridge,  '"moderate  sentences  having 
produced  no  good  effect  upon  him,  either  to  deter  or  reform, 
why  should  he  not  be  taken  permanently  out  of  society  and 
])ut  where  he  cannot  harm  others  or  wrong  himself  by  com- 
mitting crime?  No  objection,"  he  concluded,  "can  be  found 
to  this  method.'' 

Crime  Based  on  Suggestion. 

The  man  who  has  declared  war  upon  the  world,  as  ever}' 
man  has  done  who  is  not  reformed  by  two  successive  prison 
sentences,  should  be  seized  and  ]H'rnianently  imprisoned.  Mod- 
ern thought  does  not  sanction  the  literal  translation  of  this 
idea,  but  that  does  not  interfere  with  the  possibility  of  carry- 
ing it  out  for  the  benefit  of  secioty. 

The  world  spends  millions  of  dollars  every  year  in  the  busi- 
ness of  protecting  itself  against  the  criminal  and  in  caring  for 
him.  But  that  is  because  no  serious  attempt  has  ever  been 
made  to  solve  the  problem  of  crime. 

Crime  is  largely  a  matter  of  suggestion  and  therefore  if  all 
the  habitual  criminals  in  the  country  were  segregated  where 
their  influence  would  no  longer  be  able  to  exert  itself,  crime 
would  not  propagate  itself  so  fast.     The  young  men  would 


OUR  PENAL  SYSTEM  199 

not  have  presented  to  them  so  often  or  so  forcibly  the  example 
which  causes  most  of  them  to  take  the  crooked  path.  Thus 
the  expense  of  prevention  would  be  enormously  diminished  at 
once. 

Suggests  Great  Prison   Farm. 

With  segregated  criminals  supporting  themselves,  as  they 
might  be  made  to  do  under  our  plan,  the  enormous  cost  of 
penitentiaries  would  at  one  step  be  done  away  with,  A  penal 
colony  such  as  Mr.  Wooldridge  proposed  Avould  be  placed  in 
such  a  situation  that  the  convicts  could  be  compelled  to  raise 
every  bit  of  food  they  put  into  their  mouths  and  every  bit 
of  clothing  they  put  upon  their  backs.  Out  in  one  of  the 
western  states  or  territories  a  reservation  might  be  made  of 
several  thousand  acres  of  land,  around  the  rim  of  which  the 
convicts  could  be  made  to  build  a  great  wall  shutting  them- 
selves away  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  On  its  surface  would 
be  built  in  the  same  way  habitations  for  them,  and  they  would 
live  there,  tilling  the  soil  and  manufacturing  their  necessities, 
until  death. 

The  time  will  come  when  this  plan  will  be  carried  out.  The 
law-abiding  citizens  of  the  United  States  will  not  continue  for- 
ever to  be  taxed  enormously  for  the  support  of  a  class  of 
persons  who  are  enemies  of  public  order  and  decency. 

Improving  the  Public  Health. 

Can  a  nation  be  said  to  be  civilized  that  spends  billions  of 
dollars  every  year  in  the  detection  and  punishment  of  crime, 
and  not  one  cent  for  the  prevention  and  cure  of  disease,  which 
kills  thousands  of  persons  who  might  otherwise  have  retained 
their  health  and  strength? 

Suppose  only  a  billion  dollars  a  year,  that  now  goes  to  the 
support  of  criminals  in  jails  and  penitentiaries,  were  to  be 
saved  by  the  establishment  of  a  national  penal  colony  where 
criminals  would  be  made  to  support  themselves ;  and  suppose 


200  OUR  PENAL  SYSTEM 

the  billion  dollars  thus  gaved  were  to  be  si5ent  on  free  hos- 
pitals and  medical  treatment,  would  the  country  not  be  much 
better  off? 

Such  a  use  of  the  money  would  result  in  cutting  down  the 
death  rate  in  the  United  States  at  least  one-half.  The  de-'th 
rate  in  England,  through  the  exercise  of  care  and  the  assistance 
of  the  government,  has  been  reduced  from  one-half  to  two- 
thirds  in  many  diseases,  and  ten  to  twelve  years  have  been 
added  to  the  expectation  of  life  between  the  ages  of  one  year 
and  forty-five  years.  A  similar  state  of  affairs  should  exist  in 
this  country,  where  the  waste  of  life  and  health  through  pre- 
ventable diseases  is  incalculable. 

Our  enormous  expense  on  account  of  criminals,  most  of 
which  might  be  avoided  if  brains  were  really  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  problem,  will  not  always  be  endured.  The  future 
Avill  force  the  criminal  to  support  himself,  and  the  money  now 
expended  on  him  ^^all  be  devoted  to  the  preservation  of  health 
and  life  among  honest  men,  for  the  time  will  certainly  come 
when  free  hospitals  and  medical  service  Avill  be  provided  by 
the  government  for  every  citizen  who  needs  them. 

Road  Work  for  Convicts. 

Criminology,  on  its  humanitarian  side,  seeks  new  methods 
of  employment  for  criminals.  It  seeks  to  regenerate  convicted 
criminals  morally,  as  well  as  care  for  their  physical  well-being. 

Indoor  prison  trades  have  a  deadly  monotony.  In  most  cases 
they  are  carried  on  without  sunlight,  and  witli  too  litth>  fresli 
air.  Confinement  within  walls  is  alone  a  lieavy  punishment, 
but  when  allied  with  conditions  that  breed  disease  and  possibly 
death,  society  exacts  more  than  just  retribution. 

Modern  criminology  leans  toward  l)oth  moral  and  physical 
care  in  allotting  the  daily  tasks  of  criminals.  It  assumes  that 
the  state  has  no  right  to  make  the  criminal  a  worse  or  a 
weaker  member  of  society  than  when  he  entered  the  prison 
waUfl. 


OUE  PENAL  SYSTEM  ^  3U1 

This  explains  why  most  experts  in  criminology  are  strongly 
in  favor  of  putting  criminals  to  work  at  road-making.  Here 
is  employment  in  God's  sunlight  and  air,  where  criminals  can 
do  useful  work,  and  still  be  under  watchful  guard.  They  will 
be  giving  the  state  better  highways,  and  at  the  same  time  es- 
cape the  deadly  indoor  prison  grind. 

Criminologists  are  studying  a  hundred  speculative  methods 
of  benefiting  the  criminal.  They  all  agree  on  one  point- 
namely,  that  useful  work  in  the  open  air  is  beneficial  to  the 
average  criminal,  morally  and  physically. 

If  there  can  be  a  large  benefit  to  the  state,  at  the  same 
time  that  the  state  is  benefiting  the  criminal,  there  is  a  double 
advance  along  the  lines  of  rational,  humane  treatment  of 
criminals. 

The  sordid  idea  that  criminals  should  pay  the  cost  of  their 
o^vn  incarceration  is  secondary.  And  yet,  in  applying  con- 
vict labor  to  the  solution  of  the  good  roads  problem  in  the 
United  States,  the  public  would  get  back  at  least  a  portion  of 
the  enormous  drain  on  public  revenues  for  the  support  of 
criminals. 

Solves  "Good  Eoads"  Problem. 

This  is  the  only  complete  solution  of  the  good  roads  prob- 
lem. It  is  one  that  all  farmers  or  other  rural  residents  should 
insist  upon.  It  is  the  one  practical  way  of  gridironing  the 
states,  old  and  new,  with  good  roads.  It  is  especially  vital  in 
the  newer  states,  where  the  absence  of  good  roads  is  the  heaviest 
tax  on  industry  that  individual  communities  must  suffer. 

It  is  far  better  for  the  criminals  themselves  that  they  should 
be  employed  in  this  useful  outdoor  labor.  The  greatest  clog 
on  the  science  of  criminology  is  the  aversion  to  breaking  away 
from  traditions.  The  housing  of  criminals  in  penitentiaries, 
where  expensive  idleness  alternates  with  desultory  forms  of 
industry,  has  ceased  to  be  a  method  abreast  of  the  times.  There 
is  enormous  waste  in  the  orthodox  prison  systems. 


202  OIJE  PEXAL  SYSTEM 

Get  all  able-bodied  convicts  into  road-making  for  a  single 
generation,  and  what  would  result?  The  productiveness  of 
agricultural  states  would  be  vastly  increased.  Markets,  for  the 
average  farmer,  would  be  easier  of  access.  Instead  of  virtual 
isolation  for  three  or  four  months  of  the  year,  agricultural  life 
would  be  more  evenly  balanced. 

The  actual  financial  benefits  to  farmers  would  aggregate  a 
vast  total. 

In  European  countries,  it  took  several  generations  to  solve 
the  good-roads  problem.  But  they  have  solved  it.  The  rural 
roads  in  the  average  European  state  or  principality  are  a  na- 
tional blessing.  They  are  not  only  a  Joy  to  transient  travel- 
ers, but  form  the  bulwark  of  agricultural  industries.  Euro- 
pean governments  have  wisely  considered  no  cost  too  great 
for  good  roads. 

As  distances  are  immeasurably  greater  in  America  than  in 
thickly  settled  European  states,  the  good  roads  problem  takes 
on  a  different  aspect  here.  American  roads  are,  on  the  aver- 
age, worse  than  in  any  other  civilized  country.  Therefore, 
they  must  be  built  up,  slowly  and  patiently,  perhaps,  but  with 
increasing  energy  as  population  grows  denser. 

With  European  methods  it  would  take  a  hundred  years  to 
give  the  western  states  good  roads.  With  the  convict  labor,  the 
problem  would  be  solved  in  twenty  years  or  less.  This  would 
suffice,  at  least,  for  a  great  national  system  of  highways. 

Extend  the  Parole  System. 

The  fear  is  expressed  that  an  extension  of  the  parole  sys- 
tem as  regards  adults  would  open  a  velvet  path  for  criminals 
to  continue  preying  upon  society.  There  was  a  loud  hue  and 
cry  raised  against  the  idea  as  administered  recently  by  one  of 
our  Municipal  Court  Judges.  Still,  there  is  no  denying  that 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  good  resultant  from  this  plan.  It  is  a 
safe,  sane  and  conservative  one,  especially   so  when  in  the 


OUR  PENAL  SYSTEM  I  ::u;: 

hands  of  judges  who  can  feel  for  the  man  who  has  committed 
his  first  offense. 

Chicago  has  some  peculiar  problems  to  contend  with.  It  is 
the  stopping  off  place  for  all  traveling  from  south  to  north,  and 
from  north  to  south,  and  from  west  to  east.  Many  of  these 
transient  visitors  live  a  hand-to-mouth  life.  Oftentimes  they 
are  driven  to  crime  by  sheer  force  of  necessity.  Again,  the 
father  or  son  may  be  out  of  work,  and  chance  may  place  in 
his  way  the  opportunity  to  commit  some  petty  theft,  tempting 
him  on  to  his  first  crime.  If  such  offenders  show  signs  of 
desiring  to  do  better  and  are  susceptible  of  reformation,  they 
ought  to  be  given  another  chance.  On  the  other  hand,  those 
who  are  unmistakably  guilty  and  evidence  no  signs  of  re- 
pentance should  be  punislied  without  any  undue  delay. 

Many  families  have  been  driven  to  disgrace  and  ruin  when 
their  lieads  were  sent  to  prison.  Surely  among  these  there 
were  some  who  had  manifested  repentance  and  shown  indica- 
tions of  a  desire  to  be  given  another  opportunity  to  start  anew ; 
surel}''  had  they  but  been  shown  lenience  they  might  have  proved 
good  citizens  and  worthy  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  them. 

Of  course,  there  are  a  lot  of  drawbacks  to  the  parole  sys- 
tem as  it  applies  to  juveniles  in  Chicago.  But  free  from  poli- 
tics and  in  the  hands  of  fair-minded,  square-leading  men  it 
would  prove  a  splendid  scheme  worthy  of  the  highest  praise. 
In  its  infancy  it  might  look  like  a  failure,  but  as  time  passed 
it  would  be  perfected,  so  that  in  the  long  run  it  would  prove  a 
godsend  to  humanity. 

When  a  criminal  returns  from  penitentiary  or  prison  he  is 
shunned  by  society;  he  is  under  the  eternal  vigilance  of  our 
police  force — ^he  is  walked  upon  and  pushed  down.  Finally, 
tired  with  trying  to  earn  an  honest  living,  he  again  resorts  to 
crime.  Probably  had  he  been  paroled  he  might  have  turned 
out  a  deserving  citizen  and  the  father  of  a  happy  family. 


VAGRANTS;  WHO  AND  WHY. 


WHAT  WILL  WE  DO  WITH  THE  VAGRANT  AND 
TRAMP? 


VAdKANTS;   WHO  AMD   WHY  -^05 

The  vagrant  is  the  most  elusive  man  among  us.  He  is 
always  with  us,  yet  we  can  never  locate  him.  No  one  wants  him, 
yet  we  always  send  him  to  someone  else.  We  make  laws  to 
get  rid  of  him,  but  succeed  only  in  keeping  him  a  little  longer 
in  custody  at  our  own  expense.  Most  of  us  laugh  at  him  and 
some  of  us  cry  over  him  by  turns.  We  draw  funny  pictures 
of  him  in  our  newspapers  and  in  our  billboard  advertisements, 
but  we  are  really  afraid  of  him.  We  blame  the  police  for  not 
keeping  him  off  the  streets,  or  at  least  out  of  sight,  and  yet 
we  feed  him  at  our  own  doors.  We  fear  to  meet  him  after 
dark,  and  nevertheless  we  give  him  a  nickel  or  a  dime  to 
keep  him  in  town  over  night.  He  is  an  object  of  charity,  or 
a  criminal,  just  as  we  happen  to  feel.  He  is  sometimes  the 
hero  of  our  melodrama  at  the  theater,  who  gets  our  tearful 
applause.  At  the  same  time  he  stands  for  all  that  we  brand 
as  mean  and  vile.  Wc  spend  money  lavishly  to  support  him 
without  work  by  charity,  or  imprison  him  in  idleness  by  law. 

The  problem  is  to  understand  vagrancy  so  well  that  We  can 
deal  with  it  on  a  large  enough  scale  both  to  restore  the  vagrant 
to  the  working  world  or  to  keep  him  in  custody,  and  to  prevent 
the  accidental  or  occasional  vagrant  from  becoming  a  habitual 
mendicant.  The  English  and  European  governments  have  dealt 
with  their  problems  of  vagrancy  more  effectively  than  we  have. 
This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  have  investigated  the  causes 
and  conditions  of  vagrancy  more  widely  than  we,  and  dealt 
with  it  on  a  larger  scale  by  uniform  legislation  and  by  more 
persistently  following  up  the  measures  in  which  the  public 
and  private  resources  combine  to  treat  the  evil. 

Tramp  a  Eailroad  Problem. 

Thus  the  tramp  cuts  no  figure  as  a  railroad  problem,  much 
less  menace,  abroad.  But  with  us  it  is  the  fact  that  railroads 
representing  more  than  half  the  total  mileage  operated  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada  testify  almost  without  exception  to 
depredation,  thieving,  injuries,  deaths,  accidents  to  passengers 


306  \^\(iKANTS;  WHO  AND  WHY 

or  rolling  stock,  enormous  aggregate  costs  to  railroads  or  soci- 
ety, caused  by  the  habitual  illegal  use  of  the  railroads  by 
vagrants.  The  number  of  "trespassers,"  from  one-half  to  three- 
quarters  of  whom  were  vagrants,  who  are  killed  annually  on 
American  railroads  exceeds  the  combined  total  of  passenger? 
and  trainmen  killed  annually.  Within  four  years  23,964  tres- 
passers were  killed  and  25,236  injured,  thus  furnishing  the 
enormous  total  of  49,200  casualties,  wath  all  the  cost  they  in- 
volve. 

Only  by  the  co-operation  of  the  railroads  with  one  another 
and  of  towns  and  cities  with  the  railroads  can  this  waste  of 
life  and  property  and  this  increasing  peril  to  the  safety  of 
the  traveling  public  be  prevented.  Much  more  stringent  laws 
will  have  to  be  both  enacted  and  enforced  to  prevent  the  tres- 
passing, which  puts  a  premium  on  vagrancy. 

One  of  the  best  effects  of  the  strict  prevention  of  free  riding 
on  railroads  would  be  to  keep  boys  from  going  "on  the  road" 
and  becoming  tramps.  It  is  simply  amazing  to  find  little 
fellows  of  from  12  to  17  years  of  age,  who  have  never  been 
farther  away  from  home  than  to  some  outlying  freight  yards, 
disappearing  for  several  weeks  and  returning  from  Kansas 
City,  or  Cleveland,  Omaha  or  New  York,  having  all  alone, 
or  with  a  companion  or  two,  beaten  their  way  and  lived  by 
their  wits  while  traveling  half  way  across  the  continent.  Odcc 
the  excitement  of  the  adventure  is  enjoyed,  the  hardsliip  it 
costs  does  not  seem  so  hard  to  them  as  the  monotony  of  home 
or  shop.  The  discipline  of  the  United  States  navy  has  been 
the  only  regulation  of  this  wandering  habit  which  the  writer 
has  known  to  be  successful.  But  the  habit  is  more  easily  pre- 
vented than  regulated.  Massachusetts  has  taken  the  most  ad- 
vanced legislative  action  of  all  the  states  to  this  end.  The 
Waba.=h  and  the  New  York  Central  railways  suggest  fine  and 
imprisonment  for  trespassing  upon  railway  tracks  or  rolling 
stock. 


VAGKANTS ;  WHO  A>^D  WHY  207 

Better  Lodgings  for  Homeless  Men. 

Far  better  provision  for  lodging  homeless  men  must  be  made 
by  cities  in  municipal  lodging  houses  of  their  own,  such  as 
Chicago  elTectively  conducts,  and  by  far  stricter  public  regu- 
lation and  supervision  of  lodging  houses  maintained  for  profit 
or  for  charity.  The  anti-tuberculosis  crusade  shows  that  this 
supervision  and  regulation  should  be  shared  by  the  health  au- 
thorities with  the  police.  Within  a  period  of  five  years  679 
consumptives  were  taken  from  only  a  portion  of  Chicago's 
lodging  house  district  to  the  Cook  County  Hospital,  most  of 
them  in  the  most  dangerously  infectious  stages  of  the  disease. 
An  investigator  of  Chicago's  165  cheap  lodging  houses  and 
their  19,000  beds  declares  that  "the  unfortunate  man  forced 
to  sojourn  in  them  for  a  while  may  enter  sound  and  strong 
and  come  out  condemned  to  death." 

The  New  York  City  Charity  Organization  Society  and  the 
i^ssociation  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor  have  ren- 
dered a  country-wide  public  service  in  furnishing  the  report 
on  "Vagrancy  in  the  United  States"  by  their  joint  agent,  Or- 
lando F.  Lewis.  It  may  well  be  the  basis  for  better  public 
policy  here  and  everywhere.  ) 

Startling  figures  and  facts  were  presented  at  the  State  Con- 
ference of  Charities  and  Corrections  at  Albany  by  x\rthur  W. 
Towne,  secretary  of  the  Illinois  State  Probation  Commission, 
regarding  the  extent  of  vagrancy  and  the  habits  of  tramps  in 
this  state. 

More  than  31,000  persons,  mainly  vagrants,  received  free 
lodgings  in  I^ew  York  State,  in  town  and  city  lockups,  during 
1906,  and  the  number  in,  1907  was  larger.  Seventy-five  cities 
and  towns  thus  provide  for  their  wandering  visitors.  Half  of 
these  towns  and  cities  also  feed  the  wanderers  free  of  charge. 

A  large  number  of  places  give  lodgings  also  to  boys,  many 
of  them  as  young  as  10  or  12  years,  thus  encouraging  the 
wandering  spirit  that  makes  the  later  tramp.  With  only  one 
slight  exception,  not  a  single  town  or  city  required  any  work 


:iUcS  VAUKANTS;   WHO  AND   WHY 

iit  all  from  the  lodgers  in  retura  for  the  lodging  or  the  food 
provided,  thus  giving  absolutely  no  incentive  to  the  wanderer 
to  work  for  his  board  or  meals. 

It  is  urged  that  the  system  of  allowing  the  police  author- 
ities to  give  these  free  lodgings,  as  well  as  the  similar  practice 
in  some  jails  and  almshouses,  be  abolished  as  a  most  direct 
encouragement  to  vagrancy,  and  that  in  their  stead  such  free 
lodgings  a?  are  necessary  should  be  furnished  by  the  overseer 
of  the  poor,  but  only  when  repaid  by  some  fonn  of  work, 
such  as  chopping  wood  or  breaking  stone. 

Tramps  Like  Jail. 

Mr.  Towne  also  brought  out  the  fact  tliat  tramps  like  to  go 
to  jail  in  winter.  Instead  of  considering  a  jail  sentence  for 
that  part  of  the  year  as  a  form  of  punishment,  they  welcome 
it  as  a  chance  to  keep  warm  and  loaf  at  the  public  expense. 
Forty-three  per  cent  of  the  commitment  of  tramps^  occurs  be- 
tween November  1  and  February  1.  In  short,  the  jail  or  the 
penitentiary  becomes  a  sort  of  winter  vacation  resort  for  tramps. 
Many  chiefs  of  police  with  whom  Mr.  Tovntic  communicated 
said  that  tramps  in  winter  would  ask  to  be  sent  to  jail,  and 
that  if  this  were  not  done  thoy  would  sometimes  commit  of- 
fenses for  the  express  purpose  of  being  arrested  and  sent  there. 

It  is  declared  to  be  significant  that  in  tlie  tramp's  slang  the 
word  "dump"  is  applied  to  both  lodging  houses  and  jails. 

With  a  cold  winter  the  number  of  vagrants  in  penitentiaries 
and  jails  increases.  In  190(i  there  were  more  than  lo.ooo 
tramps  and  vagrants  in  penitentiaries  and  jails,  while  in  l!HH. 
which  was  a  very  cold  winter,  there  were  more  than  1  l.ooo. 
On  the  average,  about  one-third  of  the  prisoners  arc  tramps 
and  vagrants.  This  means  that  the  public  is  annually  paying 
several  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  avowed  purpose  of 
punishing  men  for  vagrancy,  but  in  reality  it  amounts  only 
to  furnishing  a  free  place  of  winter  rest,  ^fost  of  the  chiefs 
of  police  believe  that  jails  and   penitentiaries  do   little  good, 


YALHIANT^:  WHO  AND  WHY 


209 


310  VAGBANTS;  WHO  AXD  AVHY 

if  any,  in  their  treatment  of  tramps.  Another  fact  is  that  the 
sentences  for  this  class  of  offenders  are  too  short  to  accomplish 
any  results.  About  85  per  cent  of  the  sentences  are  from  only 
one  to  sixty  days. 

Hobos  Classified  by  Races. 

In  a  vague  way  tlio  veteran  hobos,  classified  by  the  various 
nationalities,  are  fairly  representative  of  the  make-up  of  the 
whole  American  nation,  in  accordance  with  the  number  of 
hobos  each  nationality  turns  out.  After  taking  into  cousidera- 
tion  the  fact  that  certain  parts  of  the  United  States  are 
dominated  by  people  of  one  nationality,  and  the  bulk  of  tramps 
in  that  part  of  the  country  would  necessarily  come  from  that 
nationality,  the  following  classification  was  given  as  doing 
justice  to  all : 

The  Irish  and  British  elements  lead  in  tlie  number  of  hobos. 
They  are  closely  followed,  however,  by  the  German  element. 
The  nations  of  Eastern  Europe,  Poles,  Bohemians,  Hungarians 
and  others,  are  next  in  line.  Then  follow,  in  smaller  numbers, 
Scandinavians,  French,  Italians  and  Jews.  The  French  come 
mostly  from  Canada,  the  Scandinavians  from  the  northwest 
and  the  Italians  from  the  largest  cities  in  the  country,  like 
Xcw  York  and  Chicago,  and  also  from  the  southern  states. 
Here  and  there  one  finds  a  stray  Servian  or  Bulgarian  who 
drifted  into  trampdom  and  has  never  been  able  or  has  never 
cared  to  drift  out  of  it  again. 

Greeks  are  seldom  found  among  tramps  becausie  they  have 
not  yet  a  "second  generation"  of  Greeks  to  any  extent  in  the 
United  States.  Chinese  and  Japanese  likewise  are  not  found 
in  the  hobo  class.  Of  the  negro  race,  many  would  not  be 
averse  to  becoming  professional  tramps  were  it  not  for  the 
risk  which  a  negro  tramp  generally  runs.  A  "stray  uogro," 
according  to  the  hobos  intorviowed,  is  regarded  with  n]iprohen- 
sion  and  is  apt  to  I)e  shot  on  mere  suspicion. 


VAGEANTS;  WHO  AND  WHY  311 

New  Foreigner  Not  a  Hobo, 

You  will  hardly  ever  find  a  foreigner  in.  the  first  five  or 
ten  years  of  his  American  life  among  tramps  and  hobos.  He 
may  be  near  tramp,  he  may  be  apparently  'down  and  out/ 
but  he  is  not  a  genuine  hobo/'  said  one  of  the  men.  "You 
will  find  plenty  of  foreigners  in  the  lodging  houses,  plenty 
of  them  who  starve  and  suffer,  but  they  are  not  hobos.  They 
have  had  hard  luck,  and  now  in  their  old  age  they  live  by 
doing  two  or  three  and  some  even  one  day's  work  a  week. 
But  they  work  more  or  less.  They  have  not  the  parasitic  philos- 
ophy of  one  who  is  a  full-fledged  hobo.  They  fall  more  in  the 
class  of  European  vagabonds,  such  as  one  finds  in  Germany 
or  Russia.  They  work  now  and  then;  they  have  some  trade, 
or  know  a  smattering  about  a  number  of  trades. 

The  American  hobo  falls  in  an  entirely  different  category 
from  these.  Work  with  him  is  said  to  be  a  disgrace.  Neither 
does  he  relish  crime  much  if  he  can  get  along  without  it.  He 
will  beg  from  door  to  door  and  will  commit  a  crime  only  as  a 
last  resort.  The  hobo  primarily  has  no  will  power,  or  rather, 
he  destroys  it. 

The  majority  of  hobos  became  such  because  of  their  false 
conception  of  freedom  and  of  wrong  inter-relations  between 
parents  and  children.  Their  parents  have  been  held  in  many 
cases  in  semi-savage  conditions  by  their  landlords  in  the  old 
world.  When  they  come  to  America  they  naturally  appreciate 
their  freedom.  They  speak  of  it  to  their  children.  They  are 
lax  with  them,  and  this  spoils  them. 

Jew  Recruit  in  Trampdom. 

Polish  tramps  and  tramps  from  other  nations  of  Eastern 
and  Southern  Europe  were  declared  to  be  more  apt  to  turn 
to  petty  crimes  when  pressed  to  it  by  want.  They  are,  how- 
ever, according  to  statements  of  tramps,  easily  found  out. 
They  somehow  are  hasty  in   their  actions,   a»d  just   as   they 


•^1;^  \AGliAXTS;  WilU  AM»   WHY 

l)randish  their  knives  and  pistols  thoughtlessly  they  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  police  simply  and  easily. 

The  Jewish  tramp  was  a  rarity  until  recently.  However, 
the  large  jiumber  of  Jews  which  poured  into  this  country  from 
oppressed  countries  in  Europe  since  1881  have  also  furnished 
a  "first  generation,'*'  many  of  whose  members  have  found 
their  way  to  the  barrel  houses  and  slums  of  all  large  cities. 
The  Jewish  tramp,  however,  was  declared  to  be  entirely  of 
the  class  of  the  petty  criminal.  Out  of  the  penitentiary  for 
some  petty  crime  committed,  or  having  been  a  go-between  foi- 
thieves  and  the  person  who  buys  the  goods  stolen,  the  Jewish 
youth  for  the  time  being  takes  to  trampdom. 

His  commercial  instinct,  however,  together  with  the  wide 
system  of  charity  which  the  Jews  maintain  in  every  city  where 
Ihey  are  found,  soon  enables  him  to  get  out  of  the  hobo  class. 
He  becomes  a  trader  of  some  sort  and  soon  leaves  the  barrel 
house  and  his  hobo  companions  behind  him. 

Talks  of  the  Til\.mp — Why  Dilapidated  Gentleman  Does 
Not  Give  Up  Wandering  and  Settle  Down — Likes  the 
Care-Free  Life — Mingles  Among  the  People  and  Gets 
TO  Know  Them  Well — Changes  in  Community. 

"Why  don't  I  give  it  up  and  settle  down  in  city  or  village 
and  become  a  respectable  member  of  the  community?"  echoed 
the  dilapidated  gentleman  as  he  pocketed  his  usual  fee.  "T 
have  been  asked  that  question  a  thousand  times,  it  seems  to 
me,  and  my  answer  has  always  been  the  same.  I  tramp  as  a 
profession,  and  T  stand  at  the  head  of  it.  I  like  it.  There's 
a  good  living  in  it.  I  come  in  contact  with  liuman  nature 
at  every  turn.  I  am  respectable  as  it  is.  The  cities  and  vil- 
lages are  overcrowded,  and  the  man  who  butts  in  has  little 
chance  of  snccoss.  I  have  less  to  worry  about  and  sleep  more 
soundly  than  any  business  man  in  America.  You  newspaper 
fellers  think  you   know  it  all.  but  vou'd  take  a  drop  to  your- 


VAOHAXTS:  WHO  AND  WHY 


313 


]4IU      OWU,    git! 


..=i"r  »ni  5b>7S;."-.'""  "'  '»^'"'  '■"  ■  "*••""  "'■ 


214  YAGilA^sTS;  WilU  A.XD  WHY 

selves  if  you  were  on  the  tramp  for  a  month.  You'd  see  more 
human  nature  with  the  bark  on  in  that  time  than  you  can  find 
on  the  East  Side  in  New  York  in  five  years. 

"Say,  now/'  continued  the  man,  "can  you  name  me  one 
single  newspaper  in  the  state  of  New  York  that  felt  sure  of 
Eoosevelt's  election  as  governor  No,  you  can't.  I  hit  his  ma- 
jority within  2,000.  Why?  Because  I  was  among  the  people 
and  knew  how  they  talked.  Plenty  of  politicians  and  news- 
papers said  he'd  be  elected  as  president  when  he  ran,  but  no 
man  or  no  newspaper  came  within  a  thousand  miles  of  the 
popular  majority.  I  don't  say  that  I  hit  it,  but  I  could  have 
given  pointers  to  a  hundred  editors. 

Get  Out  Among  the  People. 
"Before  the  next  national  convention  of  either  party  meets 
I'll  have  tramped  over  three  or  four  states,  and  I'll  be  ready  to 
wager  my  life  ag'in  a  nickel  that  I  can  name  the  victorious 
candidate.  I'll  wager  that  I  can  predict  it  far  closer  than 
any  newspaper  in  the  land.  If  you  want  to  know  what  this 
country  is  thinking  about,  my  boy,  don't  box  yourself  up  in 
a  sanctum  and  read  a  few  exchanges.  Get  out  and  rub  elbows 
with  the  people.  It  isn't  the  few  big  cities  that  settle  the 
great  political  questions.  It's  the  farmer  and  the  villager,  and 
they  come  pretty  near  being  dead  right  every  time.  When  I 
had  tramped  across  seven  counties  of  New  Y''ork  state  I  shouted 
for  Hughes.  A  politician  in  Syracuse  who  heard  me  had  me 
thrown  out  of  a  meeting  and  wanted  the  police  to  arrest  me. 
I  heard  that  he  had  a  bet  of  $5,000  on  another  candidate  and 
was  predicting  Hughes'  defeat  by  50,000.  But  enough  of  this. 
I'll  switch  off  and  tell  you  something  that  has  hurt  me  for 
the  last  three  or  four  years. 

Barns  Now  Locked. 
"Do  you  know  tbat  a  few  men,  comparatively,  have  almost 
changed   the   nature   of   the   country  and   village   populatiou  ? 
No.  you  don't,  but  you'll  learn  of  it  some  day  tb  rough  some 


VAGKAJSTS;  WHO  A.ND  WHY  ^15 

magazine  writer  who  gathers  up  his  points  in  the  way  I  have. 
Time  was  when  not  one  farmer  in  ten  in  the  land  locked  his 
house  or  barn  at  night.  Now  ninety  out  of  a  hundred  do  it. 
When  a  stranger  came  along  they  w^elcomed  him.  When  a 
man  talked  with  them  they  accepted  his  statement.  What  they 
saw  in  the  newspapers  they  believed  without  cavil.  Well,  they 
have  got  over  all  this.  The  patent  medicine  faker,  the  mine 
exploiter,  the  bucketshop  man  and  the  hundreds  of  other 
swindlers  have  destroyed  the  confidence  of  the  farmer  and 
villager  in  human  nature.  They  have  been  bitten  so  often 
and  so  hard  that  they  come  to  doubt  if  such  a  thing  as  honesty 
exists.  They  won't  take  a  stranger's  word  for  anything.  They 
have  got  through  believing  that  there  is  an  honest  advertiser. 
They  have  even  become  distrustful  of  each  other.  It  has  be- 
come the  hardest  kind  of  work  to  sell  a  windmill,  piano  or 
other  articles  direct. 

ViCTi^is  OF  Fakers. 

"You  can't  get  out  into  the  countrj'^  and  walk  five  miles  with- 
out finding  a  victim  of  the  fakers.  The  farmer  has  invested 
in  bogus  mines,  bogus  oil  wells,  bogus  stock  and  bogus  other 
things,  and  not  only  lost  his  money,  but  come  to  know  that 
he  was  as  good  as  robbed  of  it.  The  villager  has  been,  trapped 
the  same  w^ay.  It  has  hardened  their  hearts  and  given  them 
the  worst  view  of  mankind.  You  can  know  nothing  of  this 
by  telling,  nor  of  the  rain  wrought  until  you  get  among  the 
people. 

"Up  to  a  year  or  so  ago  it  was  seldom  that  a  farmer  turned 
me  down.  If  he  had  nothing  for  me  to  do  to  earn  a  meal 
or  lodging  he  would  not  turn  me  away.  He  most  always  took 
me  on  trust  and  had  no  fear  that  I  was  a  rascal  in  disguise. 
It's  all  changed  now.  This  last  summer  I  was  paddling  the 
hoof  in  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  making  a  sort  of  grand 
farewell  tour,  and  it  was  hard  work  for  me  to  even  get  a 
few  apples  of  the  farmers.    They  used  to  bo  full  of  'chin'  and 


216  A^AUKANTS;  WHO  AND  WHY 

gossip.  They  used  to  hold  me  for  an  hour  in  order  to  hear 
all  the  news.  I  found  them  last  summer  sullen  and  sulky 
and  calling  to  me  from  the  fields  to  move  on.  In  other  years 
the  village  landlord  would  set  me  at  work  in  the  stables  or 
with  a  pail  of  whitewash  in  some  of  the  rooms,  and  in  that 
way  I'd  pay  for  my  stay.     I  found  a  change  there. 

Hardened  by  Losses  ix  "Prosperity"  Times. 

"Three  years  ago,  if  you  had  started  out  for  a  day's  tramp 
with  me  along  a  country  road  every  farmer  we  met  would 
have  had  a  'Howdy'  for  us,  and  perhaps  stopped  for  a  chin. 
You'd  have  heard  whistling  or  singing  from  every  man  at 
work,  and  the  farmer's  wife  would  have  called  to  you  that  she 
had  some  fresh  buttermilk.  Take  such  a  tramp  today  and 
you'll  find  a  tremendous  change.  I  can't  estimate  the  sum 
the  farmers  and  villagers  have  been  robbed  of  during  the  past 
years  of  prosperity,  but  it  is  something  appalling  for  the  whole 
country.  As  much  and  more  has  been  taken  out  of  victims  in 
the  cities,  but  the  case  is  different.  The  man  in  the  city 
doesn't  pin  his  faith  to  an  advertisement.  He  speculates  on 
chance.  He  is  where  he  can  use  the  law,  if  needs  be.  If  he 
loses  here  he  goes  at  it  to  get  even  there.  With  the  other 
class  it  is  a  dead  loss,  and  the  swindler  can  give  them  the 
laugh.  Take  almost  any  highway  you  will,  leading  through 
almost  any  state,  and  eight  farmer.^  out  of  ten  have  been  made 
victims.  Even  the  man  Avho  has  not  lost  above  $10  has  been 
hardened  by  it. 

His  Feelings  Hurt. 

"I  said  that  this  change  hurt  me,  and  so  it  does.  You  may 
be  surprised  to  hear  that  anytliing  can  hurt  the  feelings  of  a 
tramp,  but  that  is  because  you  don't  know  him.  He  is  looked 
upon  as  an  outlaw  in  the  cities,  but  ever  since  he  took  the  road 
there  has  been  a  sort  of  bond  between  him  and  the  dwellers 
outside.  He  has  paid  his  way  or  been  willing  to.  He  has 
asked  for  little  and  done  little  harm.  The  newspapers  have  made 


VAGKANTS;  WHO  AND   W  ilY  Ji: 

thousands  of  farmers  tell  hard  stories  about  the  tramp,  lint 
it  has  heeii  in  the  newspapers  alone.  The  two  liave  worked 
together  harmoniously. 

"Have  you  got  any  idea  of  how  the  professional  conducts 
himself  on  the  road?  No?  Well,  it  won't  happen  once  in  a 
week  that  you  will  find  one  without  a  little  money.  It  has 
heen  earned  hy  hard  work.  When  he  stops  at  a  farmhouse 
he  offers  to  work  for  a  meal.  If  there  is  no  work  he  pays  cash 
for  what  he  gets.  If  he  has  heen  padding  along  for  three 
or  four  days  he  ^^^ll  stop  and  work  for  half  a  week  if  the 
chance  is  offered  him.  In  his  work  he  keeps  up  with  the  hired 
man.  He  washes  before  he  eats.  He  knows  what  forks  are 
made  for.  He  carries  a  clean  handkerchief  oftcner  than  the 
man  he  works  for.  Tlie  average  tramp  can  dress  a  chicken. 
kill  a  pig;,  empty  and  fill  a  straw  bed,  whitewash  a  kitchen, 
paint  the  house  or  fence,  hoe  corn,  dig  potatoes,  run  a  culti- 
vator, drive  a  team,  split  fence  rails,  dig  a  well,  shingle  a 
roof  or  rebuild  a  chimney.  He  is  a  handy  man.  He  eats 
what  he  gets,  sleeps  Avhcre  he  is  told  to  and  brings  the  farmer 
a  higger  budget  of  news  than  any  two  of  his  county  papers. 
When  his  work  is  finished  he  slings  his  hook  and.  is  told  to  stop 
again.  That's  the  tramp  and  that's  the  farmer  just  as  they 
have  heen  for  the  last  forty  years,  and  that's  the  reason  T 
bemoan  this  change  in  the  farmer.  He  has  been  victimized  by 
men  he  thought  were  honest,  he  has  heen  robbed  where  he 
trusted,  and  in  changing  his  feelings  toward  mankind  he  must 
include  the  tramp,  who  has  never  wronged  him. 

Driven  to  the  Cities. 

"Take  a  walk  and  you  will  find  those  same  green  meadows, 
those  same  brooks,  those  same  lambs,  but  you  won't  find  Uncle 
Josh  and  Aunt  Mary  any  more.  A  city  like  this  seems  a  hard- 
hearted and  cruel  place,  and  you  shiver  at  the  idea  of  heing  dead 
broke.  Let  me  just  tell  you  that  tramps  are  driven  into  the  cities 
to  recuperate.     All  the  clothing  T  have  had  for  the  Inst  five 


218 


VAGKx\NTSi  WHO  AND  WHY 


Mftvid  Mullor  on  a  sumiAor'a  day 
]vaked  tho  njeado\v3  awoot  with  hay; 
Thla  honvy  work,  apon  tho  Tiirm 
Utrvn  Maud  ti  very  siratfg  right  ttrm; 


In  Chlcaffo  Just  tho  other  day 
Bho  rakQd  tUo  muck  bunp^  wltbout  pay. 
■'Nosr  rood"  and  "curealla"  went  up  la  smoker 
Maua  acservBRcreCUt,  and  ih»tB  no  joko. 


VAGRANTS;  WHO  AND  WHY  .219 

years  has  been  begged  in  the  city.  All  the  money  I  have  had 
has  come  from  the  dwellers  therein.  The  only  kind  words  I 
have  heard  have  come  from  the  hurly-burly.  Makes  you  open 
your  eyes,  doesn't  it?  You  are  still  clinging  to  the  old-fash- 
ioned ideas  of  the  country. 

"My  friend,  let  me  tell  you  something.  There  isn't  today 
a  harder  man  to  deal  with  than  the  average  farmer.  There 
isn't  a  woman  with  less  sentiment  than  his  wife.  There's  been 
a  mighty  change  in  the  last  twenty  years.  Indeed,  it  is  a 
change  that  was  forced  on  the  farmer  to  protect  himself.  In 
years  gone  by,  in  tramping  over  the  highways,  I  have  met 
lightning-rod  men,  windmill  men,  piano  men,  hay-fork  men, 
commission  men,  peddlers,  chicken  buyers  and  horse  traders. 
All  were  after  the  farmer.  Each  and  every  one  intended  to 
beat  him,  and  did  beat  him.  He  was  beaten  when  he  «old  his 
produce  and  he  was  beaten  when  he  bought  his  goods.  He 
was  considered  fair  game  all  around.  It  was  argued  that  his 
peaceful  surroundings  made  him  gullible,  and  I  guess  they 
did. 

Things  Are  Changed  Now. 

'^ell.  Uncle  Josh  and  Aunt  Mary  died  twenty  years  ago, 
and  their  children  took  hold.  The  babbling  brook  babbles  for 
cash  now.  The  green  meadows  mean  greenbacks.  The  lamb- 
kins frisk,  but  they  frisk  for  the  dough.  The  watchdog  at 
the  gate  can  size  up  a  swindler  as  well  as  a  man.  The 
farmer  holds  on  until  he  gets  the  highest  price,  and  the  mer- 
chant who  sells  him  shoddy  has  got  to  get  up  early  in  the 
morning.  Say,  now,  but  I'd  rather  start  out  to  beat  ten 
men  in  a  city  than  one  farmer.  I'd  rather  be  dead  broke  here 
than  to  have  a  dollar  in  my  pocket  out  in  the  country.  If 
taken  ill  here  I'm  sent  to  a  free  hospital;  if  taken  sick  in  the 
country,  the  Lord  help  me. 

'"I'm  not  blaming  the  farmer  in  the  least.  For  a  hundred 
years  he  was  the  prey  for  swindlers  and  was  taken  for  a  fool. 
If  he's  got  his  eyes  opened  at  last  and  is  taking  care  of  him- 


320  VAGRANTS;  WHO  AND  WHY 

self,  and  I  assure  3'ou  that  such  is  the  case,  then  so  much  the 
better  for  him.  It  is  the  dilapidated  gentleman  who  suffers 
most  from  this  change. 

"Why  is  a  sailor  a  sailor?  Nineteen  times  out  of  twenty 
it  is  because  he  wants  to  rove  the  seas.  Why  is  a  tramp  a 
tramp?  Nineteen  times  out  of  twenty  it  is  because  he  wants 
to  rove  the  land.  It  is  a  nervous,  restless  feeling  that  he  can- 
not withstand.  He  wants  to  get  somewhere,  and  he  is  no  sooner 
there  than  he  wants  to  get  somewhere  else.  The  majority  of 
them  are  sober  men.  They  are  as  honest  as  the  average.  Nol 
one  in  twenty  will  refuse  to  work  for  a  meal  or  for  pa3^  Not 
one  in  twenty  commits  a  crime  for  which  he  should  be  jailed. 
You  can't  make  statistics  talk  any  other  way.  The  whining, 
lying,  vicious  tramp  has  his  home  in  the  city  and  stays  there. 

Farmers  Down  on  Tramps. 

"It  is  the  press  of  the  country  that  has  got  the  farmer  down 
on  the  tramp.  You  may  drive  for  fifty  miles  and  interview 
each  farmer  as  you  come  to  him  and  j'ou  won't  find  five  to 
say  that  a  tramp  ever  caused  them  any  trouble.  In  summer 
the  tramp  may  steal  a  few  apples  or  turnips.  An3^one  driving 
along  the  highway  is  free  to  do  that.  Should  he  steal  an  ax, 
shovel,  plow,  sheep,  calf  or  break  into  the  house  and  steal 
a  watch  or  clothes,  what  is  he  going  to  do  with  his  plunder? 
The  instant  he  tries  to  realize  on  it  he  is  nabbed.  The  tramji 
\Aho  enterefl  a  house  and  stole  $50  in  cash  would  be  worse  ofT 
than  if  he  hadn't  a  cent. 

"I  can  walk  into  that  bakery  over  there  and  say  that  I  am 
hungry  and  the  woman  will  give  me  a  stale  loaf.  I  can  tackle 
most  any  man  passing  here  for  a  dime  for  lodgings  and  get 
it.  I  can  wander  down  most  any  residence  street  and  raise  a 
hat,  a  coat  or  a  pnir  of  shoes.  How  is  it  out  in  tlie  country? 
We'll  say  I've  hoofed  it  all  day,  making  about  fifteen  miles. 
I've  stopped  to  rest  now  and  then  and  view  the  scenery.  Don't 
von  make  anv   mistake  about  that   scenerv  feature.     Tf  anv 


vagrants;  ;  WHO  AND  WHY 


231 


222  VAORANTS;  WHO  AND  WHY 

art  company  wanted  to  publish  a  thousand  views  it  couldn't 
do  better  than  to  ask  the  tramps  where  to  find  the  best  ones. 
For  lunch  I  pull  two  turnips  from  a  field.  My  drink  is 
from  a  brook.  Along  about  6  o'clock  I  hunger  for  cooked 
victuals,  and  as  it  looks. like  rain  I  would  like  to  get  lodgings 
in  a  barn.  I  turn  aside  to  a  farmhouse.  The  farmer  is  wash- 
ing his  hands  at  the  well  to  go  in  to  supper.  Out  of  the  tail 
of  his  eye  he  sees  me  approaching,  but  he  pays  no  heed  until 
I  stand  before  him  and  say: 

"  'Mister,  I  can  milk  a  cow,  chop  wood,  mow  weeds  or  hoe 
in  the  garden.  If  you  will  give  me  supper  and  lodgings  on 
the  haymow  I  will  work  an  hour  at  anything  you  wish.' 

Suspicious  of  Caller. 

"*When  did  you  get  out  of  jail?'  he  asks. 

"'I  have  never  been  in  jail.' 

"'But  you  look  like  a  durned  skunk  who  stole  a  pitchfork 
from  me  last  year.' 

"  'Last  year  I  was  in  California.' 

"  'Want  to  set  my  barn  afire  with  your  old  pipe,  do  you  ?' 

"  'I  don't  snoke.' 

"He  stands  and  thinks  a  moment  and  then  grudgingly  tells 
me  to  take  a  seat  on  the  kitchen  doorsteps.  The  wife  brings 
me  out  a  stingy  supper.  There's  an  abundance  on  the  table 
and  part  of  it  will  go  to  the  hogs,  but  she  cuts  me  short,  think- 
ing to  get  ahead  of  mc.  I  have  cleared  my  plate  in  ten  minutes 
and  then  I  am  set  to  work  and  buckle  in  until  too  dark  to  see 
longer.  My  bed  is  on  the  hay,  and  twice  during  the  night 
the  farmer  comes  out  to  see  if  I  haven't  stolen  the  shingles  off 
the  roof.  In  the  morning  if  I  want  a  meager  breakfast  1 
must  put  in  a  good  hour's  work  for  it.  That  means  an  hour 
and  a  half,  and  when  I  thank  the  farmer  for  his  generosity 
«nd  get  ready  to  go  on,  he  says: 

"'Goin'.  eh?    Well,  that's  the  wav  with  vou  durned  critters. 


VAGRANTS:  WHO  AND  WHY  233 

Fve  filled  you  up  and  lodged  you,  and  now  you  want  to  play 
the  sneak  on  me.' 

"My  friend,  don't  look  for  much  sentiment  in  humanity  these 
days,  and  don't  look  for  a  bit  of  it  out  in  the  country.  You 
won't  find  it.  The  farmer  can't  afford  it.  He  has  been  beaten 
l)y  sharpers  and  squeezed  by  trusts  until  he  has  lost  faith  in 
everyone.  He  has  buttermilk,  but  it's  for  sale,  and  before 
selling  it  to  you  he  wants  a  certificate  that  you  have  never 
stolen  a  haystack  or  run  away  with  a  field  of  buckwheat." 

It  was  hard  to  suspect  that  the  clean-cut,  energetic  and 
rapid-fire  talker  was  a  tramp,  but  when  he  produced  creden- 
tials from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  and  promised 
and  threatened  to  produce  them  from  Brazil,  Hungary,  New 
Zealand  and  the  Klondike  regions  to  prove  his  statement,  it 
had  to  be  credited. 

"I'm  A  No.  1,  the  well-known  hobo,  tramp,  author  and 
traveler,"  he  said,  in  a  speed  of  diction  that  would  have  made 
the  late  lamented  Pete  Daily  or  Junie  McCree  green  with  envy. 
"Everywhere  you've  seen  the  marks  'A.  No.  1,'  on  railroad 
fences,  in  railroad  yards,  or  anywhere  else,  and  you  must  have 
seen  them  if  you've  been  over  this  country  much;  you'll  know 
I've  been  there." 

Hobo  Looks  Like  Business  Man. 

A  No.  1  had  uttered  this  sentence  in  almost  one  breath,  and 
was  proceeding  with  such  rapidity  that  it  was  impossible  to 
follow  his  flow  of  ideas*  He  was  a  medium-sized  but  lithe 
and  powerfully  built  man,  attired  in  a  neat  tailor-made  brown 
suit,  with  highly  polished  shoes,  and  looking  something  like 
a  prosperous  business  man  in  a  small  way.  Under  his  arm  he 
carried  a  pair  of  blue  overalls,  and  as  he  laid  them  on  the 
table  he  remarked:     "My  traveling  rig." 

"Maybe  I  don't  look  like  a  tramp  to  you,"  he  continued, 
"but  I'm  the  genuine  article,  not  the  tomato-can  or  barrel- 
house bum  type,  but  a  real,  up-to-date,  twentieth-century  tramp 


224 


VAGliANTS;  WHO  AND  WHY 


"Say,  Jock,   have   some  more  nice  hot   coffee." 

"Gee,  Bill,  I  was  jus'  thinkin'  o'  that  myself.  Talk  about  great 
minds — " 

"Come  on,  Jack,  be  game  Please  have  some  moi'e  o"  this  nice 
turkey." 

"Turkey I  Great  Scott!  When  have  I  heard  that  word  before? 
Hain't    it    a    country    out    in    Asia    some    place?" 

"No.  Jack,  turkey  is  vittles.  You  get  it  if  you  love  your  teacher. 
Better  let  me  give  you  a  few  nice  slivers  off  the  breast." 

"Say,  Bill,  on  the  dead,  you're  sure  generous,  all  right,  all  right. 
Here   you   are,   sharin'   your  last   turkey.'' 

"Old  man.  don't  you  know  it's  Thanksgivin*  day?  Don't  you  hear 
the  bells  ringin'?  Do  you  reckon  I'd  dine  alone  on  a  day  like  this? 
No,  siree,  not  much.  Pass  your  plate  fer  some  more  o'  this  nice  hot 
turkey,  and  some  nice  hot  scolloped  oysters,  an'  some  o'  these  nice 
hot    biscuits,    an'    some    nice    cranberry    sauce,    an' — " 

"There  you   go.   Bill,   robbin'   yourself.     You  won't  hav-e  any  left." 

"O,  there's  plenty  here.  I  like  to  see  a  man  eat  till  he's  plum  foun- 
dered. .  When  I  used  to  go  home  fer  Thanksgivin'  mother 
wasn't  happy  unless  I  et  enough  to  stall  a  hired  hand.  If  I  didn't 
eat  four  helpin's  of  everything  she  thought  I  didn't  like  her  cookin'. 
Had  to  tiy  ever'thing — choc'late  cake,  turkey,  sage  dressin',  hot  gravy, 
mince  pie.    an' — " 

"Say.  Bill,  you  might  gimme  a  piece  o'  that  mince  pie  while  you're 
about  it.     I  got  a  nice,  cozy  little  place  fer  a  piece  o'  mince  pie." 

"Sure,  Jack.  I'll  give  you  a  whole  quarter  section.  How  do  you 
like  this  celery?     Awful  hard  to  get  good  celery  these  days." 

"Yep,  celery  and  servants.  One's  hard  to  get  an'  the  other's  hard 
to    keep." 

"Say.     Jack." 

"What?" 

"Shall  we  have  our  cigars  and  coffee  here  or  in  th'  drawin'  room? 

•Q,  lot's  have  James  bring  'em  In  th'  drawin'  room." 


VAUKANTS;  WHO  A^:D  WHY  '>25 

who  respects  his  profession.  Why  am  I  a  tramp?  Because  1 
like  it.  When  did  [  start?  When  1  was  11  years  old.  What 
is  my  name  ?  None  but  myself  knows  it.  I  call  myself  A  ISTo.  1 
because  Tm  an  A.  ISTo.  1  tramp." 

He  had  a  most  convincing  way  with  him  and  proceeded  to 
spin  off  a  tale  of  his  adventures  which  differed  somewhat  froin 
the  ordinary  story  that  the  average  tramp  will  tell  you;  how 
he  had  been  hounded  by  the  police,  or  released  from  jail  and 


couldn't  get  work,  or  had  bad  luck  in  business,  being  crushed 
out  by  the  heartless  trusts  until  he  had  to  tramp  or  starve,  end- 
ing up  with  an  appeal  for  the  "price  of  a  bed,  mister." 

"I've  kept  a  record  of  the  towns  I've  been  in  ever  since  I've 
been  on  the  road,"  continued  A.  No.  1.  "and  up  to  date  I've 
traveled  445,405  miles,  and  it's  cost  me  just  $7.61.  Out  of  that 
distance  there's  been  92,000  miles  of  it  by  water.  In  1906 
I  traveled  19,335  miles  for  26  cents,  and  in  the  year  1907  I 
traveled  between  Stamford  and  West  Haven,  Conn.  I  jumped 
a  street  car  and  the  conductor  made  me  pay  my  fare.     Oh,  I 


226 


VAGRANTS;  WHO  AND  WHY 


"DeBo  awnjnss  "W  o  fa 

ts  handy  t'inos.  matter  wli' 

one    up    on 


"It  would  be  a  "An"   If   a   cop  '•Vousa     could 

good      umbrcl-         bothered  ycr let   de  water  oK 

ler. fle  lop. 


always  have  a  little  money,  and  I'm  honest,  too,  and  that's 
saying  a  good  deal  for  a  tramp.  Of  course,  once  in  a  while 
I  go  hungry,  but  that's  when  I  can't  get  a  potato." 

"Is  that  your  staple  article  of  diet?" 

"No,  I  don't  eat  them  except  in  restaurants,"  said  A.  No.  1, 
seriously.  "Here  is  what  I  do  with  them."  He  pulled  a  good- 
sized  tuber  from  his  pocket,  opened  a  large  clasp  knife  and 
speedily  had  it  peeled.  Then  he  proceeded  to  cut  and  carve, 
and  in  about  three  minutes  had  fashioned  a  grotesque  human 


VAGRANTS;  WHO  AND  WHY  227 

face  on  the  potato,  the  lines  coarse,  to  be  sure,  but  nevertheless 
well  outlined. 

Tramp  An  Artist. 

"I  make  these  and  can  carve  anyone's  face,  and  I  can  sell 
them  anywhere  from  25  cents  to  $2,"  said  the  tramp.  "I'm  the 
only  man  in  this  country  who  can  do  such  work,  and  there's 
a  demand  for  it  everywhere  I  stop  long  enough  to  do  it.  I 
only  stop  to  do  it  when  I  have  to,  so  that  I  can  get  a  little 
money  for  a  meal  and  pay  little  expenses,  although  my  living 
doesn't  cost  me  much.  Then,  again,  I  never  drink  or  smoke, 
so  that  item  is  cut  off.  They  don't  know  so  much  about  me 
in  Chicago  as  in  other  places,  because  I  never  stopped  here 
long  enough  to  get  acquainted ;  but  they  know  me  back  East,  all 
right,  and  out  in  the  West." 

Then  A.  No.  1  paused  long  enough  to  draw  his  breath  and 
showed  a  medal  certifying  that  in  1894  he  had  hoboed  his 
way  across  the  continent  in  eleven  days  and  six  hours  in  com- 
pany with  the  representative  of  an  Eastern  paper  and  had 
been  given  $1,000  for  doing  it. 

"That's  how  I  first  became  famous,"  he  said,  "but  I  took 
good  care  of  the  money.  I  went  and  bought  myself  a  lot  in  a 
graveyard  at  Cambridge  Springs,  Pa.,  so  I  could  be  buried 
respectably  when  I  die,  and  I  paid  part  of  the  premium  on  a 
^ick  benefit  so  that  I  can  be  taken  care  of  in  case  I  fall  sick 
suddenly.  I'm  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
that  town,  too.  I  believe  in  looking  out  for  A.  No.  1,  and  that's 
why  I've  been  so  prosperous  in  the  tramping  way." 

Then  A.  No.  1  launched  into  a  long  and  picturesque  descrip- 
tion of  the  ways  of  tramps  in  general  and  himself  in  partic- 
ular. 

"I've  always  been  particular  about  some  things,"  said  he, 
"and  one  is  to  keep  clean.  I  find  that  in  asking  for  a  handout 
the  man  who  looks  up-to-date  is  the  man  who  gets  it.  I  always 
wear  a  suit  of  overalls  when  I'm  tramping,  for  I  find  that 


'^2S  YAGiiAM\S;  ^VHO  ASD  WHY 

it  prevents  me  from  being  annoyed  by  watchmen  in  railroad 
yards.  I  am  generally  taken  for  an  engineer.  While  I  was 
down  in  a  yard  here  in  Chicago  one  man  came  and  asked  if  1 
had  a  car  lock,  thinking  I  was  a  railroad  man.  I  told  him 
I  did  not  have  one  and  walked  off.  I  have  prevented  a  number 
of  train  wrecks,  tramping  about,  probably  at  least  one  every 
year.  The  last  one,  as  you  see  by  this  letter,  was  a  few  months 
ngoi  I  saw  a  freight  running  along  with  a  broken  truck  drag- 
ging. I  jumped  aboard  and  gave  the  warning,  as  you  can  sec 
by  this  clipping.  I  have  also  been  in  a  number  of  wrecks  my- 
self, and  have  never  been  injured.  I  always  carry  a  little 
bottle  of  cyanide  of  potassium  in  my  pocket  so  that  in  ease  1 
am  ever  fatally  injured  and  in  great  agony  I  can  take  it  and 
end  all  my  trouble  in  about  20  seconds." 

COLONIES  FOR  TRAMPS. 

Teaching  Vagrants  a  Trade. 

The  vagrancy  problem,  growing  so  great  in  every  part  of 
tlie  country,  has  caused  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts  to 
make  a  trial  of  the  German  plan  of  farm  colonies  for  quasi - 
criminals.  Vagrants  are  sent  to  such  farms  under  indetermi- 
juite  sentences,  forced  to  support  themselves  by  honest  labor  and 
made  to  stay  there  until  they  give  evidence  that  upon  release 
they  Avill  become  useful  and  self-respecting  citizens. 

This  is  a  modification  of  the  penal  colony  idea,  which  is 
to  send  confirmed  criminals  to  such  a  place  for  life.  It  is 
a  great  advance  upon  the  j^lan  in  use  in  Chicago,  which  is 
to  send  vagrants  to  the  Bridewell  for  a  stipulated  time  and 
let  them  out  again.  AVhile  they  are  confined  they  are  an  ex- 
pense to  honest  citizens,  they  acquire  more  extensive  knowledge 
of  crime,  and  when  released  they  are  less  likely  than  they  wen^ 
beforehand  to  go  to  work  and  support  themselves. 

The  Massachusetts  scheme  promises  well,  so  far  ns  it  goes. 


VAGKANTS;  WHO  AND  WHY  229 

The  trouble  with  it  is  that  in  this  climate  a  farm  provides 
work  for  only  a  small  part  of  the  year.  From  November  to 
March  other  work  would  have  to  be  found  for  inmates,  and 
up  to  this  time  society  has  failed  to  agree  upon  any  that  would 
])e  satisfactory. 

Persons  interested  in  charities  and  prison  reforms  are  in- 
dorsing a  plan  for  *^tramp  colonies/'  "forced  colonies"  and 
"free  colonies."  Into  the  one  put  criminals,  or  incurable 
tramps  who  are  unwilling  to  work.  The  other  would  contain 
tramps  who  are  unable  to  find  work,  neuropaths,  cripples  and 
those  who  are  judged  to  be  curable.  Both  kinds  of  colonic? 
would  be  strictly  agricultural,  and  their  products  would  pay 
all  expenses  of  operation  and  relieve  the  country  of  the  enor- 
mous sums  now  required  to  be  spent. 

But  why  confine  this  plan,  admirable  and  satisfactory  as  it 
is,  to  tramps?  Why  not  extend  it  so  as  to  include  criminals? 
Criminals  cost  honest  taxpayers  millions  of  dollars  every  year. 
Why  not  reorganize  a  system  of  confinement  in  such  a  way 
as  to  compel  criminals  to  support  themselves? 
■  But  financial  relief  is  not  the  only  advantage.  If  habitual 
criminals — ^that  is  to  say,  criminals  who  have  served  two  terms 
in  the  penitentiary,  and  then  have  committed  another  crime — 
were  placed  in  a  penal  colony,  remote  from  society  and  kept 
there  for  life,  the  moral  tone  of  the  country  would  at  once 
be  raised.  The  bad  example  of  such  men,  which  leads  youths 
into  crime,  would  be  removed.  The  knowledge  that  there  was 
no  escape,  that  return  was  impossible,  once  an  offender  was 
sent  to  the  penal  colony,  would  deter  many  would-be  crim- 
inals. The  possibility  that  hardened  criminals  might  propa- 
gate themselves  would  end. 

Th»  penal  colony  is  the  one  rational  solution  of  the  crime 
problem,  which  becomes  more  difficult  and  menacing  each  year. 
It  will  be  adopted,  sooner  or  later. 


THE  YOUNG  CRIMINAL 


HOW    HE    IS    BRED    IN    CHICAGO. 

Chicago  Raises  Its  Own  Criminals. 

There  is  material  in  this  subject  for  earnest  thought.  Men 
under  twenty-five  are  responsible  for  75  per  cent  of  crimes 
committed  in  Chicago,  and  50  per  cent  of  robberies  and 
burglaries  are  done  by  boys  under  nineteen. 

If  that  is  true,  then  the  idea  many  people  have  had  that 
crimes  in  this  city  are  mostly  committed  by  a  roving  army 
of  criminals,  alien  to  Chicago  and  attracted  hither  by  one 
fiause  or  another,  must  be  abandoned.  If  it  is  true,  then  Chi- 
cago itself  is  responsible  for  most  crimes  committed  here.  The 
men  who  are  guilty  have  grown  up  in  this  environment,  which 
has  given  them  -the  evil  impetus  under  which  they  act. 

The  thought  that  Chicago  boys  are  the  criminals  who  ter- 
rorize the  city,  rob  houses  and  flats,  hold  up  citizens  on  the 
streets  and  assault  women  is  distressing.  It  was  much  pleas- 
anter  to  attribute  these  crimes  to  desperate  men  from  else- 
where, descending  upon  Chicago  like  raiders  and  leaving  the 
city  again  as  soon  as  possible.  But  that  is  a  misconception. 
A\'^e  ourselves  have  reared  most  of  our  criminals.  They  are  a 
Chicago  product.  They  have  received  their  notions  of  riglit 
and  wrong  here  among  us.    We  are  responsible  for  them. 

What  is  the  matter  with  Chicago?  What  are  the  elements  in 
its  life  that  breed  criminals?  AVhat  causes  thousands  of  young 
])oys  to  take  up  a  criminal  life?  What  must  wo  do  to  change 
conditions? 

These  are  questions  that  should  engage  every  good  citizen 
in  anxious  endeavor  to  find  answers  to  them.  If  we  are  to 
reform  criminals  and  lessen  crime,  we  must  first  learn  liow  to 
reform   our  own   city. 


THE  YOIT^^G  CEIMINAL  231 

Preventing  Crime  Better  Than  Cure, 

Instead  of  attempting  to  prevent  crime,  we  wait  until  after 
the  crime  is  committed,  then  burden  ourselves  with  the  ex- 
pense of  apprehending,  trying,  convicting  and  imprisoning  the 
criminal. 

Our  first  duty  is  to  adopt  those  measures  that  will  prevent 
the  further  commission  of  crime. 

Among  the  problems  of  Chicago  there  is  no  one,  perhaps, 
that  is  more  bafiP.ing  than  that  of  the  vicious  boy. 

His  years  protect  him  from  the  rigors  of  the  law,  and  it  is 
a  difficult  matter  to  know  just  what  to  do  with  him. 

There  are  all  sorts  of  organizations  formed  for  his  aid  and 
his  reformation.  There  is  the  Juvenile  Court,  for  instance, 
and  there  are  innumerable  homes  and  shelters,  and  still  the 
problem  is  not  solved.  The  boy  looms  large  in  the  public  eye 
these  days,  when  he  is  sent  to  prison  for  life  for  murder  and 
spends  long  years  in  durance  for  burglary  and  other  serious 
crimes. 

The  story  of  the  car-barn  bandits  and  their  tragic  end  is  too 
recent  to  need  'more  than  a  passing  reference. 

The  car-barn  bandits  met  an  ignominious  death  on  the 
gallows.  Eudolph  Gamof  will  spend  the  remainder  of  his 
years  behind  prison  bars  and  it  is  quite  likely  Alfred  Lafferty 
will  know  what  hard  work  means  in  Pontiae  or  some  other 
such  institution  before  he  is  once  more  at  liberty. 
The  End  op  the  Gamin. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  little  Gavroche,  the  gamin  in 
"Les  Miserables,''  came  to  his  death  on  a  barricade  in  the 
streets  of  Paris.  It  was  during  the  fatal  insurrection  of  1830. 
The  lad  allied  himself  with  the  insurrectionists  and  found  he 
was  in  his  element.  He  did  prodigies  of  valor  and  was  rob- 
bing the  dead  bodies  of  the  enemy  of  cartridges  when  he  was 
shot.  Even  after  he  had  been  shot  once  and  had  fallen  to  the 
earth  he  raised  himself  to  a  sitting  posture  and  began  to  sing 
a  revolutionary  sonsr. 


333  THE  YOUNG  CRIMINAL 

"He  did  not  finish/'  says  Hugo.  "A  second  bullet  from  the 
same  marksman  stopped  him  short.  This  time  he  fell  face 
downward  on  the  pavement  and  moved  no  more.  This  gi-and 
little  soul  had  taken  flight." 

Thus  it  is  to  be  seen  that  Hugo  has  made  a  hero  of  this 
lad.  But  what  of  the  little  gamins  that  throng  Chicago's 
streets?  Will  they  find  any  such  glorious  end?  It  is  not 
likely. 

Jacob  Leib  is  but  17  years  old,  and  Alfred  Lafferty,  accused 
of  twenty-three  burglaries,  is  only  16.  The  John  Worthy 
School  is  full  of  boys  who  have  been  gathered  in  by  the  police ; 
the  Junior  Business  Club,  another  reform  organization,  has 
a  big  membership,  and  the  Juvenile  Protective  League  is  hard 
at  work  trying  to  do  something  to  arrest  the  boy  in  his  mad 
race  to  the  reform  school,  prison  and  the  penitentiary. 

In  looking  about  for  the  causes  of  crime  among  boys  I 
found  that  poverty,  liquor,  divorce,  yellow  newspapers,  cigarettes 
and  bad  company  played  important  parts.  Certain  streets  of 
Chicago  are  schools  of  crime,  where  boys  are  taught  the  rudi- 
ments of  larceny  and  soon  become  adepts. 

Hardened  criminals  use  the  more  agile  youths  they  find 
idle  to  do  work  they  are  unable  to  do.  Certain  sections  of 
the  city  swarm  with  boys  who  are  steeped  in  vice  and  crime 
and  are  in  embryo  the  murderers,  the  burglars  and  the  forgers 
of  tomorrow. 

Chicago  Has  Her  Children. 

Turning  again  to  the  pages  of  "Les  Miserables,"  the  story 
of  Gavroche,  the  gamin  of  Paris,  may  easily  be  found,  and 
the  tale  of  this  youth  is  not  far  different  from  that  of  the 
"kid"  of  Chicago.  Here  is  what  Victor  Hugo  says  of  Gavroche 
in  that  section  of  his  great  novel  called  "^Marius":  "This 
child  was  muffled  up  in  a  pair  of  man's  trousers,  but  he  did 
not  get  them  from  his  father,  and  a  woman's  chemise,  but  he 
did  not  get  it  from  his  mother. 


THE  YOUING  CKIMINAL  233 

"Some  people  or  other  had  clothed  him  in  rags  out  of  char- 
itj.  Still  he  had  a  father  and  a  mother.  But  his  father  did 
not  think  of  him  and  his  mother  did  not  love  him. 

"He  was  one  of  those  children  most  deserving  of  pity,  among 
all;  one  of  those  who  have  father  and  mother  and  who  are 
orphans  nevertheless. 

"This  child  never  felt  so  well  as  when  he  was  in  the  street. 
The  pavements  were  less  hard  to  him  than  his  mother's  heart. 

"His  parents  had  dispatched  him  into  life  witji  a  kick.  Ho 
simply  took  flight. 

"He  was  a  hoisterous,  pallid,  nimhle,  wideawake.  Jeering 
lad,  with  a  vicious  but  sickly  air.  He  went  and  came,  sang, 
played,  scraped  the  gutters,  stole  a  little,  hut  like  cats  and 
sparrows.  He  had  no  shelter,  no  bread,  no  fire,  no  love.  When 
these  poor  creatures  grow  to  be  men  the  millstones  of  the 
social  order  meet  them  and  crush  them,  but  so  long  as  they 
are  children  they  escape  because  of  their  smallness.'' 

This  is  a  true  picture  of  the  urchin  of  Chicago.  These 
tiny  atoms  of  humanity  are  sponges  that  absorb  all  the  filth, 
the  vice,  the  sin  and  the  crime  of  the  streets.  They  pick 
up  all  that  is  evil  and  nothing  that  is  good.  They  are  nur- 
tured at  the  breast  of  poverty  and  vieiousness,  and  are  reared 
on  a  diet  of  depravity  and  degradation.  There  is  nothing 
they  do  not  know  of  crime  and  of  wickedness.  They  are 
thoroughly  saturated  with  everything  that  is  evil,  unprincipled 
and  debased. 

Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  the  city  brings  forth  an  appalling 
annual  crop  of  criminals?  There  may  be  heroes  among  the 
gamins  in  Chicago,  but  most  of  them  are  only  heroes  so  long 
as  they  remain  uncaught. 

When  they  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  police  and  are  taken 
io  jail  they  are  sorry-looking  heroes. 

And  in  ihe  meantime  the  problem  of  the  boy  is  still  un- 
^^olved. 


234  THE  YOUXG  CRIMINAL 

Graduate  of  the  Streets. 

This,  then,  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  kind  of  hoy  the  schools 
of  the  street  graduate.  From  these  petty  classes  of  crime  they 
go  to  the  high  school,  the  prison,  where  they  are  further 
grounded  in  the  knowledge  of  wickedness,  and  as  like  as  not 
return  to  Chicago  once  more,  full-fledged  criminals,  ready  for 
anything.  But  this  is  only  one  of  hundreds  of  such  cases 
that  are  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  police  and  the  public 
every  year. 

Most  of  the  boys  who  come  here  are  either  orphans  or  half 
orphans.  Drink  has  wrecked  their  homes,  perhaps,  and  they 
are  thrown  out  on  the  world  to  shift  for  themselves.  If  they 
get  into  bad  company  they  soon  make  their  appearance  in 
the  Juvenile  Court  or  in  jail, 

10,000  Boys  Worse  Than  Homeless. 

A  charitable  worker  who  has  come  in  touch  with  the  young 
of  the  poorer  districts,  whence  comes  the  tough  lad,  estimates 
that  there  are  over  10,000  boys  in  Chicago  who  are  worse  than 
homeless.  In  other  words,  they  are  in  direct  line  of  becoming 
criminals  or  public  charges,  under  the  teaching  of  the  trained 
criminal  who  makes  the  city  his  refuge. 

Anderson,  the  sticlaip  youth  who  operated  extensively  on  the 
north  side,  choosing  women  for  his  victims,  is  but  33  years 
old.  The  men  who  relieved  Alderman  C.  M.  Foell  at  the  point 
of  a  gun  are  less  than  20,  and  thus  it  goes  down  the  line. 

They  laugh  at  the  efforts  of  the  police  to  catch  them.  For 
the  most  part  they  live  at  home  or  with  relatives,  and  in 
the  neighborhoods  are  known  as  dissipated  and  tough  boys,  but 
not  as  holdup  men.  With  companions  they  sally  out  at  night 
to  isolated  sections  of  the  city  where  they  know  the  police 
protection  to  be  inadequate.  They  choose  sechided  spots  of- 
fering the  protection  of  darkness  and  lay  in  wait. 

Then,  with  plenty  of  time  deliberately  to  stop  the  victim 
and  take  from  him  valuables,  they  operate  until  it  is  time 


THE  YOUNG  CRIMINAL  235 

for  the  policeman  to  be  in  the  vicinity,  or  until  the  profits 
of  the  expedition  are  sufficient  to  satisfy  their  spirit  of  revelry 
and  riot. 

Schools  for  Pickpockets. 

There  are  numerous  places  in  Chicago  where  boys  are  taught 
to  become  pickpockets.  Poolrooms  are  gathering  places  for 
such  young  criminals  and  certain  saloons  of  a  low  order  harbor 
others.  There  is  one  saloon  in  West  Madison  street,  for  in- 
stance, not  far  from  Canal  street,  where  a  lot  of  pickpockets 
are  in  the  habit  of  congregating.  They  are  young  fellows  for 
the  most  part  and  adepts  in  their  particular  field. 

They  find  a  sort  of  home  in  this  saloon,  where  they  can 
get  a  big  glass  of  beer  and  a  generous  free  lunch  for  5  cents. 
They  are  in  and  out  of  this  place  day  and  night  and  manage 
to  keep  out  of  the  clutches  of  the  law  through  their  sleekness 
and  cleverness.  There  is  one  young  man  in  there  at  least 
who  has  made  a  good  living  by  forging  orders  for  goods.  So 
far  he  has  escaped  detection. 

His  method  is  to  forge  an  order  on  some  big  business  house 
and  get  certain  goods.  One  day  he  got  a  lot  of  belting  from 
a  well-known  firm  on  a  forged, order.  He  sold  this  later  and 
realized  $4.50  on  the  deal.  This  he  spent  freely  in  the  saloon 
mentioned  and  made  no  bones  of  how  he  got  the  money.  Others 
run  out,  snatch  a  pocketbook  and  make  for  cover.  Later  on 
they  look  up  their  cronies  at  the  saloon  and  spend  the  money 
for  beer  and  cheap  whisky,  and  eat  free  lunch  provided  by 
the  management. 

There  are  numerous  other  such  places,  more  especially  on 
South  Clark  near  Van  Buren  street.  Some  of  the  saloons  in 
that  section  are  alive  with  young  fellows  who  prey  upon  the 
public  for  a  living.  They  do  not  always  beg  their  way,  either, 
for  they  often  take  a  run  out  and  stick  up  somebody,  filch  a 
purse  or  break  into  a  store.  When  one  of  them  has  been  up 
to  some  devilment  his  companions  can  usually  detect  it,  for 
lie  will  come  back  and  be  very  flush  for  a  few  hours,  or  a 


23(1 


THE  YOUNG  CRIMINAL 


few   (layp.   all   depending,   of  course,   upon  how   much   he  was 
a])lo  to  steal. 

Modern  Boys  Are  Gamblers. 

But  it  is  not  only  in  the  slums  that  the  tendencies  of  the 
modern  boy  may  be  studied.  In  the  more  respectable  parts 
of  town,  in  the  vicinity  of  schools  and  in  the  neighborhood 
of  churches  nuvv  be  seen  evidences  of  what  the  youth  of  today 
think  play. 

Time  was  when  boys  were  content  to  play  marbles.  Some 
of  then\,  of  course,  had  the  temerity  to  play  for  keeps.    Others 


THE  YOUNG  CEIMINAL  Ji3r 

were  taught  it  was  wicked,  and  even  at  the  risk  of  being 
(■ailed  "sissy"  refrained  fron>  disobeying  their  mothers.  But 
now  marbles  are  a  thing  of  tjie  past.  As  soon  as  spring  comes 
boys  want  to  shoot  '-'craps."  They  want  to  play  for  money. 
They  want  to  gamble. 

A  visit  to  almost  any  school  playground  during  recess  or 
the  noon  hour  will  convince  any  person  that  the  modern  boy 
is  a  very  wise  youth.  His  conversation  is  not  a  well  of  English 
pure  and  undefiled  by  any  manner  of  means.  In  the  first 
place,  his  profanity  is  something  shocking,  and,  in  the  next 
place,  his  knowledge  of  the  world  and  its  wickedness  is 
thorough. 

There  is  nothing  the  modern  schoolboy  does  not  know.  Ho 
is  conversant  with  all  sorts  of  vice  and  crime,  even  if  he  does 
not  take  an  actual  part  in  it.  If  this  sort  of  thing  obtains 
among  schoolboys  and  youths  of  that  class  it  is  little  wonder, 
then,  that  the  boys  of  ■  the  slums  are  what  they  are.  And  thf ■ 
pictures  is  not  overdrawn.  The  conversation  of  boys  of  ten 
and  a  dozen  years  will  bring  the  blush  of  shame  even  to  a 
gr^wn  man. 

Just  how  to  cure  all  this  is  a  question  that  is  bothering  a 
good  many  people.  Societies  are  being  organized  right  and 
left.  Homes  for  boys  are  being  established,  schools  are  be- 
ing started  and  other  efforts  are  being  made  to  reclaim  the 
delinquents.  It  has  been  found  that  good  playgrounds  in 
the  tenement  districts  have  been  beneficial.  The  boy  is  ex- 
uberant. He  must  let  out  some  of  his  animal  spirits.  If 
he  has  a  good  place  in  which  to  play  he  will  not  be  half  as 
apt  to  get  into  mischief. 

Remedies  Suggested  by  Some. 

There  are  some  who  insist  that  moral  suasion  should  bo 
used  at  all  times  in  an  attempt  to  reform  the  juvenile.  Bui 
this  has  been  found  to  fall  short  in  many  instances  in  Chi- 
cago.   Even  the  Juvenile  Court,  with  all  its  benefits,  is  found 


238  THE  YOUNCt  CRIMINAL 

to  come  somewhat  short  of  doing  everything  for  the  vicious 
lad.  It  is  found  that  boys  whp  are  herded  together  in  penal 
institutions  are  inclined  to  leave  such  places  much  worse  than 
when  they  entered.  The  bad  boys  dominate.  The  evil  spreads 
and  the  good  is  suppressed.  One  bad  boy  is  able  to  do  much, 
while  the  influence  of  one  good  boy  amounts  to  almost  noth- 
ing. 

Those  who  have  made  a  study  of  the  matter  aver  that  the 
only  true  solution  of  the  boy  problem  is  individual  work.  The 
lad's  characteristics  must  be  studied,  the  conditions  under 
which  he  has  been  living  must  be  scrutinized  and  all  the  in- 
fl.uences  that  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon  his  particular 
case  must  be  looked  into.  Under  these  circumstances  it  would 
take  a  reformer  for  every  dozen  boys,  and  so  far  the  money 
has  not  been  forthcoming  to  support  so  many  reformers,  for 
even  a  reformer  must  live.  A  good  many  of  the  delinquent 
youths  of  Chicago  have  been  reared  in  squalid  surroundings 
and  have  been  nurtured  in  filth  and  unloveliness.  They  have 
been  surrounded  from  babyhood  by  poverty,  drunkenness  and 
depravity.  These  boys  take  to  crime  as  naturally  as  a  duck 
does  to  water. 

■  In  order  to  reach  boys  and  try  to  help  them  individually 
a  movement  is  now  on  foot  to  form  juvenile  protective  leagues 
in  all  parts  of  the  city.  One  organization  is  now  working  in 
the  vicinity  of  Halsted  and  Twenty-second  streets  to  put  a 
stop  to  race  wars  between  school  children.  It  is  thought  by 
some  that  this  new  movement  will  fill  a  long-needed  want.  It 
i«,  admitted  by  those  who  have  given  the  matter  close  study 
that  something  must  be  done. 

The  records  of  the  Juvenile  Court  and  the  books  of  the 
John  Worthy  School  emphatically  bear  out  this  contention. 

Failure  to  Rule  Children  Makes  Criminals. 

What  are  you  doing  with  your  child's  sense  of  right  and 
wrong?   Are  you  certain  that  you  are  not  training  a  criminal, 


THE  YOUNG  CRIMINAL  331) 

beginning  with  him  at  two  years  old  ?  What  is  your  boy  at  six 
years  of  age?  Is  he  liar,  thief — perhaps  of  insane  ego  as  ho 
was  when  he  first  toddled  from  his  mother's  arms?  Infereu- 
tially  President  Roosevelt  may  have  complimented  you  on  the 
acquisition  of  a  large  family,  but  rather  than  this,  has  it 
occurred  to  you  that  the  father  and  mother  of  one  child,  brought 
up  in  the  light  of  wisdom,  may  be  deliverers  of  mankind 
against  the  numerical  inroads  of  the  other  type  of  parent? 

Insanity  is  the  mental  condition  out  of  which  it  is  im- 
possible for  the  person  of  any  age  to  recognize  the  rights  of 
others  in  any  form.  This  insanity  may  be  due  wholly  to  the 
overdevelopment  of  the  primary  ego  in  the  child.  At  one  year 
old  the  infant  may  be  a  potential  criminal  of  the  worst  type. 
It  lies  to  the  mother  by  screaming  as  if  in  pain  in  order  that 
she  may  be  brought  to  its  bedside.  If  the  adult  should  steal 
personal  property  as  this  babe  steals  food  wilfully,  the  peniten- 
tiary would  be  his  end.  Angered,  this  same  babe  might  at- 
tempt murder  in  babyhood,  the  spirit  fostered  by  the  same 
selfish  intolerance  that  is  filling  jails  and  crowding  gallows 
traps. 

Respect  Rights  of  Others. 

Ego  in  the  community  life  is  the  basis  of  all  ill  or  all  good, 
even  to  the  dream  of  Utopia.  The  basis  of  all  ill  is  the  pri- 
mary ego  which  is  inseparable  from  the  child  until  teaching 
has  eliminated  it.  The  basis  of  all  good  is  that  secondary  ego 
which  recognizes  the  rights  of  others. 

Morality — good — virtue — all  that  is  considered  desirable  in 
the  best  type  of  citizenship  develop  out  of  the  community  life. 
Even  in  the  lower  orders  of  animals  a  greater  intelligence 
marks  the  creatures  that  live  community  existences  than  is 
to  be  seen  in  the  isolated  creatures.  And  this  is  from  the 
development  of  the  secondary  ego  which  exacts  rights  for 
others. 

The  child  has  no  knowledge  of  this  secondary  virtue  save 
as  it  is  taught  it.     The  mother  who,  by  responiding  out  of  a. 


340  THE  YOUNG  CRIMINAL 

mistaken  affection  to  every  wail  of  the  infant,  encouraging 
all,  no  longer  is  susceptible  to  home  influences  in  teaching 
the  lesson.  If  this  youth  shall  become  entangled  in  the  toils 
of  the  law  and  the  mistaken  parents  intercede  for  him,  gain- 
ing their  ends  in  saving  him  from  all  punishment  for  his 
misdeeds,  the  boy  receives  through  it  only  another  selfish  im- 
petus toward  more  and  greater  offenses  against  society. 
Reformatory  After  First  Crime. 

Here  in  this  first  offense  of  magnitude  sufficient  to  call  for 
the  intervention  of  the  law  the  parents  have  their  opportunity, 
if  only  they  would  see.  The  place  for  such  a  youth  at  this 
period  is  a  reformatory  in  which  are  sufficient  educational  facil- 
ities and  the  strictest  discipline,  which  in  justice  visits  tht- 
full  penalty  of  community  transgressions  upon  the  head  of  tlie 
offender.  In  this  reformatory  environment  the  offending  one 
finds  none  of  the  intercessions  that  may  have  been  made  for 
him  in  his  home.  In  sterner  fashion  than  he  ever  dreamed 
before  he  discovers  that  as  he  transgresses  the  community  laws 
he  receives  a  full  penalty  for  the  offense.  Young  enough,  he 
may  be  led  to  discover  that  his  transgressions  are  not  worth 
while.  Too  old  for  these  teachings,  he  becomes  the  persistent 
lawbreaker,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  degenerates  to  the  asylum 
for  the  insane. 

How  intimately  some  of  the  fundamentals  of  training  are 
associated  with  everyday  lives  in  the  home,  and  yet  not  rec- 
ognized, is  shown  in  the  college  life  of  the  country.  "Sopho- 
more" is  a  class  term  in  schools  which  needs  interpreting.  As 
a  word,  it  is  from  the  Greek,  meaning  "wise  fool."  Its  appli- 
cation in  the  higher  education  is  to  the  second-year  "men" — 
to  those  students  who  are  in  that  period  of  mental  and  physical 
stress  after  the  age  of  fifteen  is  reached.  In  school  parlance 
the  word  associates  itself  with  the  flamboyant  youth  who  prates, 
and  preaches,  and  struts,  and  lays  down  the  law  of  all  things 
as  he  sees  it.  Until  twenty-five  years  old.  indeed,  the  "Sophn- 
moric"  period  is  not  fully  passed. 


THE  YOUNG  CRIMIISFAL  341 

Broadly  stated  for  all  men,  it  may  be  reiterated  that  in  the 
parents'  failure  to  enforce  the  subjection  of  the  selfish  first 
]iature  in  the  child  lies  the  seed  of  his  destruction.  Encour- 
aging the  infant  to  wail  again  when  nothing  ails  it  is  already 
(,'atering  to  this  criminal  ego.  Later,  when  a  parent  humors 
its  every  whim,  he  is  stunting  its  growth  toward  good  citizen- 
ship. And  later  still,  in  that  crisis  in  physical  life,  between 
the  ages  of  fifteen  and  twenty-five  years,  such  a  parent  may 
awaken  suddenly  to  a  realization  of  the  criminal  which  he 
has  made. 

Ego  in  the  child  mind  prompts  it  to  take  instantly  anything 
which  it  desires  and  which  it  can  take.  Unchecked  by  train- 
ing, this  primary  ego  grows  with  that  upon  which  it  feeds.  At 
two  years  old  the  child  should  have  had  its  lessons  in  the  rights 
of  others  administered  in  any  way  in  which  it  can  be  reached, 
])ut  always  in  all  justice.  Justice  in  this  lesson  should  be  the 
first  consideration.  At  six  years  of  age  these  lessons  are  of 
special  significance.  It  is  an  age  in  the  development  of  the 
child  when  they  may  be  taught  with  especial  emphasis,  with 
lasting  results. 

Guide  Child  of  Fifteen  Carefully. 

At  fifteen  years  old  a  new  condition  arises  in  the  life  of  the 
child.  At  this  time  the  race  condition  and  the  individual  con- 
dition arc  at  war.  It  is  at  the  beginning  of  this  period  that 
an  unbridled,  untrained  youth  may  take  his  first  step  toward 
crime,  simply  because  the  primary  ego  in  him  has  not  been 
>Mi  toward  the  background  by  the  lessons  of  his  duty  toward 
the  rights  of  others.  Here  it  is  that  the  heedless,  ignorant 
parents  may  come  to  the  first  realization  of  what  his  own  sins 
of  omission  have  been. 

If  for  any  of  the  reasons  suggested  a  youth's  parents  have 
not  given  him  this  necessary  training  in  recognition  of  the 
rights  of  others,  the  age  brings  with  it  a  condition  making  it 
impossible  in  ordinary  cases  for  the  parental  conscience  and 
home  environment  to   avail. 


24t> 


THE  YOL^XG  CELMINAL 


For  example,  the  fact  that  the  boy  becomes  a  thief,  or 
burglar,  indicates  in  any  or  many  things  that  disregard  for 
the  rights  of  others  which  is  destructive  to  all  law  and  order. 
Properly  handled  in  the  home  he  would  have  been  amenable 
to  all  of  these  conditions. 

Raise  the  child  like  a  plant,  care  for  it  as  you  do  for  the 
rarest  specimen  of  vegetation,  bring  it  up  in  an  atmosphere 
of  love.     Child  raising  and  plant  development  are  akin. 

If  the  child  has  but  the  smallest  trace  of  some  characteristic 
you  desire  to  develop,  take  hold  of  it,  care  for  it,  surround 
it  with  proper  conditions  and  it  mil  chang6  more  certainly 
and  readily  than  any  plant  quality. 

Child  Like  a  Plant. 

The  child  in  nature  and  processes  of  growth  is  essentially 
the  same  as  the  plant,  only  the  child  has  a  thousand  strings 
instead  of  but  a  few,  as  has  the  plnnt. 

Where  one  can  produce  one  change  for  tlie  betterment  of 


THE  YOUNG  OlilMINAL  343 

the  plant  one  can  produce  a  thousand  changes  for  the  hetter- 
ment  of  the  child. 

Surround  the  child  with  the  proper  environment  to  brinfr 
out  certain  qualities  and  the  result  is  inevitable. 

Working  in  the  same  way  as  one  does  with  the  plant,  the 
development  of  the  individual  is  practically  unlimited. 

Take  the  common  daisy  and  train  it  and  cultivate  it  by 
proper  selection  and  environment  until  it  has  been  increased 
in  size,  beauty  and  productiveness  at  least  four  hundred  fold. 

Do  our  educational  methods  do  as  much  for  our  children? 
If  not,  where  is  the  weakness? 

Hear  Child  in  Love. 

Have  the  child  reared  for  the  first  ten  j^ears  of  its  life  in 
the  open,  in  close  touch  with  nature,  a  barefoot-  boy  with  all 
that  implies  for  physical  stamina,  but  have  him  reared  in  love. 

Take  the  little  yellow  California  poppy  and  by  selecting 
over  and  over  again  the  qualities  you  wish  to  develop  you 
have  brought  forth  an  orange  poppy,  a  crimson  poppy,  a  blue 
poppy.  Cannot  the  same  results  be  accomplished  with  the 
human  being?     Is  not  the  child  as  responsive? 

The  Greatest  Eeform  Movement  of  the  Day  Is  the 
Chicago  Juvenile  Court. 

The  statistics  show  conclusively  that  the  operation  of  the 
Juvenile  Court  is  an  advance  step  in  the  treatment  of  the 
young  and  helpless.  It  shows  that  not  only  are  the  depend- 
ents helpless,  but  that  the  delinquents  are  helpless  to  extricate 
themselves  from  a  life  of  idleness  and  crime,  for  most  crim- 
inals are  made,  not  born,  and  the  sooner  tiriie  is  devoted  to 
changing  the  environments  of  the  young,  the  sooner  will  be 
solved  the  problem  of  criminology. 

Illinois  in  the  Lead. 

Various  claims  have  been  put  forth  from  time  to  time  as  to 
the  State  which  was  the  first  to  inaugurate  the  Juvenile  Court 
idea. 


24:4:  THE   iUL-\U   CKiMl.NAL 

The  Juvenile  Court  Law  went  into  effect  July  1,  1899,  and 
immediately  the  Juvenile  Court  was  established.  The  Judges 
of  the  Circuit  Court  assigned  one  of  their  members  to  pre- 
side in  the  Juvenile  Court. 

The  law  gave  the  court  jurisdiction  of  all  dependent  and 
delinquent  children  who  are  under  seventeen  and  eighteen  years 
of  age,  and  defines  dependents  and  delinquents.  The  word 
"dependent"  shall  mean  any  child  who  for  any  reason  is  desti- 
tute or  hoineless  or  abandoned,  or  dependent  upon  the  public 
for  support,  or  has  not  proper  parental  care  or  guardianship, 
or  who  habitually  begs  or  receives  alms,  or  who  is  found  living 
in  any  house  of  ill-fame  or  with  any  vicious  or  disreputable 
persons,  or  whose  home,  by  reason  of  neglect,  cruelty  or  de- 
pravity on  the  part  of  its  parents,  guardian  or  other  persons 
whose  care  it  may  be,  is  an  unfit  place  for  said  child,  and  any 
child  under  the  age  of  ten  years  who  is  found  begging,  peddling 
or  selling  any  article,  or  singing  or  playing  any  musical  in- 
strument upon  the  street,  or  giving  any  public  entertainment, 
or  who  accompanies  or  is  used  in  aid  of  any  person  so 
doing. 

The  word  "delinquent"  shall  mean  any  boy  under  seventeen 
or  any  girl  under  eighteen  years  of  age  who  violates  any  law 
of  this  State  or  any  city  or  village  ordinance,  or  who  is  in- 
corrigible, or  who  knowingly  associates  with  thieves,  vicious  or 
immoral  persons,  or  who  is  growing  up  in  idleness  or  crime,  or 
who  knowingly  frequents  a  house  of  ill-fame,  or  who  know- 
ingly patronizes  any  policy  shop  or  place  where  any  gaming 
device  is  or  shall  be  operated. 

A  boy  of  seventeen  is  at  a  period  of  life  where  he  is  neither 
a  boy  nor  a  man.  In  many  cases  he  has  the  mind  of  the  boy 
and  the  impulses  of  the  savage;  his  ideals  are  force,  and  his 
ambitions  that  of  the  wild,  erratic  western  rover.  Why  the 
wise  head  and  steady  hand  of  the  court  and  probation  officer 
should  be  withdrawn  at  this  period  is  not  explainable  on  any 
reasonable  theorv. 


THE  YDITNG  CEIMINAL  245 

It  may  be  contended  that  a  boy  of  seventeen  years  is  too 
advanced  in  the  knowledge  of  crime,-  but  it  can  also  be  con- 
tended that  the  boy  of  fifteen  years  is  too  old  in  crime.  Just 
what  standard  can  be  used  to  find  the  responsibility  of  a  boy 
when  measured  by  his  age  and  physical  proportions  I  am  un- 
able to  discover.  The  only  just  standard  is  mental  capacity. 
The  Judge  and  probation  officers,  who  are  familiar  with  the 
l)oy,  know  his  parents  or  guardians  and  his  environments, 
should  be  allowed  to  exercise  their  judgment  as  to  the  moral 
responsibility  of  the  boy,  for  there  are  many  boys  at  fifteen 
who  are  more  responsible  for  their  acts  than  others  at  eighteen. 

In  many  cases  where  children  were  committed  to  an  insti- 
tution the  parents  were  placed  under  the  care  of  a  probation 
officer  and  the  number  of  failures  to  reform  the  parent  are 
few. 

In  cases  where  the  parents  are  responsible  for  the  depend- 
ency of  existence  those  parents  mean  well,  but  they  are  un- 
fitted for  the  duties  they  have  assumed/  The  father  thinks  he 
has  fulfilled  his  whole  duty  to  his  family  when  he  provides 
food,  shelter  and  clothing;  the  mother  thinks  she  has  ful- 
filled her  whole  duty  when  she  does  her  house  work  and  at- 
tends to  the  mending  and  washing.  The  children  are  masters 
of  both  parents  before  the  parents  take  cognizance  of  the 
actual  mental  state  of  the  child. 

What  should  be  done  when  the  boy^s  home  is  the  case 
of  his  delinquency  is  to  provide  for  him  a  place  where  every 
home  impulse  would  be  developed  and  where  industry  and 
economy  would  be  practiced.  He  should  live  in  this  home, 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  until  he  has  reached  his 
eighteenth  year. 

What  is  said  of  the  boys  is  equally  true  of  the  girls,  and, 
in  many  cases,  more  important.  Where  the  father  is  directly 
responsible  for  the  downfall  of  the  girl,  the  girl  should  not 
be  allowed  to  return  to  her  parental  home. 


WILES   OF  FORTUNE  TELLING. 


FORTUNE  TELLERS  HAVE  EXISTED  SINCE 

RECORDS  OF  EVENTS  BEGAN  TO  BE  KEPT. 

Some  of  Their  Methods — Charlatans  Have  a  Great  Hold 
on  the  Poorer  Classes  of  Big  Cities,  Much  Alike — 
Schools  of  Crime  Run  Full  Blast — Silly  and  Ignorant 
People    Undone    by    Vicious    and    Wide-Open   Fraud. 

War  against  the  swindlers,  impostors  and  blackmailers  who 
operate  in  Chicago  under  the  guise  of  clairvoyants,  trance  me- 
diums, astro-psychics,  palmists,  magicians  and  fortune  tellers, 
of  whom  there  are  about  1,500  in  Chicago,  should  be  driven 
out  of  the  city  and  never  allowed  to  return. 

There  exist  in  Chicago  a  horde  of  these  brazen  frauds,  who 
ply  their  trade  in  the  most  open  and  unjjlusliing  manner.  Few 
of  them  are  other  than  organized  schools  for  the  propagation 
of  crime,  injustice  and  indecencies  that  would  make  an  un- 
jailed  denizen  of  the  red  light  district  blush  to  even  mention. 
We  particularly  refer  to  the  army  of  fortune  tellers,  clairvoy- 
ants, Hindoo  fakers,  mediums,  palmists,  hypnotists  and  other 
skillful  artists,  whose  sole  occupation  is  to  rob  and  mislead 
ihe  superstitious,  foolish  and  ignorant.  The  business  is  a  pay- 
ing industry,  realizing,  it  is  said,  an  enormous  sum  of  money 
every  month  in  Chicago,  all  of  which  is  obtained  by  false  pre- 
tenses. 

Here  is  a  very  large  field  for  police  investigation.  The  prac- 
tices of  these  people  are  < of  the  most  demoralizing  tendency. 
Can  there  be  anything  worse  than  holding  out  love  potions  to 
married  women  to  compel  other  women's  husbands  to  love  thera? 


WILES  OF  FORTUNE  TELLERS 


347 


fa-tnou^  Arti6i'6  Explanation  oj  §denti|ic  Ghoat 
Upper KovO«tr)R<2.atl Ghost.  Cri^ht)  /larxs  Imitation- 
Lov&r  Rov/  (l«^t)ra.Ke,G-host*dra.win^s  by vonHa.TX  ^tiowm^  MaICC  Ug 


248  WILES  OF  FOKTUNE  TELLERS 

These  ilens  oi  iniquity  offer  their  services  and  even  aelually  aid 
in  the  procuring  of  abortions,  and  in  showing  how  and  where 
a  good  haul  can  be  made  by  robbery  or  burglary.  They  brin.ii 
together  the  depraved  of  both  sexes.  Many  of  them  are  p\ir- 
\eyors  to  our  brothels  and  stews. 

They  flaunt  their  profession,  their  "spiritual  mysteries," 
brazenly  in  public  in  our  busy  thoroughfares,  even  invading 
>:ome  of  our  hotels.  They  are  the  hotbeds  of  vice  and  crime, 
from  the  robbing  of  orphans  to  the  deflowering  of  innocent 
girls.  They  fall  into  "trances"  and  call  up  spirits  from  tlic 
vaults  of  heaven,  or  elsewhere,  to  testify  to  their  truth,  and  in 
the  turn-up  of  an  ace  of  spades  they  see  a  "dark  lady"  or  *a 
"dark  gentleman"  who  is  pining  for  you,  and  furnish  the  ad- 
dress of  either. 

Panderees  to  Depravity. 

Why  these  panderers  to  depravity  in  all  its  most  hideous 
forms  are  permitted  to  continue  their  depredations  among 
every  rank  of  society  without  attracting  the  attention  of  "re- 
formers" or  the  grand  jury  is  something  beyond  the  ken  of 
human  knowledge.  And  as  a  block  is  a  small  cityful  in  some 
parts  of  the  town,  the  reading  of  palms,  the  casting  of  horo- 
scopes and  the  looking  into  seeds  of  time  through  the  backs 
of  a  greasy  pack  of  thumb-marked,  tear-stained  cards  is  m 
profitable  calling.  Perhaps  it  should  be  explained  that  tlie 
tears  are  not  shed  by  the  prophets  of  the  tenements,  but  by 
the  patrons  who  go  to  the  oracle  to  learn  if  they  are  to  be 
dispossessed  next  month  or  if  their  ambitious  children  will 
sometime  learn  a  little  Yiddish,  so  that  they  may  talk  with  their 
own  parents  in  their  own  homes,  are  sources  of  information 
for  the  settlement  workers  and  others  who  try  to  learn  the 
hopes  and  fears  and  ambitions,  the  real  life  of  such  places. 
Rut  the  fortune  tellers  are  the  real  custodians  of  the  Ghetto's 
secrets.  Tn  their  little  back  rooms,  some  of  which  are  elut- 
tered  with  the  trash  that  suggests  the  occult  to  the  believer,  some 


WiLi:S  Ui'  FOiiTUxNE  TELLEES 


249 


eJuppoficci  "Nediuro"^Jttin$  inth&Cheiv 


350  WILES  OF  FORTUNE  TELLERS 

as  hare  as  the  room  of  a  lodger  who  has  pawned  the  last  stick 
of  furniture,  the}^  hear  confessions  that  court  interpreters  never 
have  a  chance  to  translate,  and  listen  to  tales  of  hard  luck  that 
are  never  told  to  the  rabbis. 

Prognostications  Are  Vague. 

But  they  don't  use  the  mails  to  drum  up  trade,  and  they 
have  no  barkers  at  the  doorsteps  to  cajole  the  credulous  to  stej) 
inside  to  learn  what  the  future  has  in  store  for  them.  And 
so,  in  a  legal  sense,  they  are  guilty  of  no  fraud.  They  are  not 
very  serious  frauds  in  any  sense,  for  their  tricks  are  harmless 
and  their  prognostications  are  vague  as  the  weather  predic- 
tions of  an  almanac  and  as  probable  as  the  sayings  of  the  cart- 
tail  orators  who  hold  forth  at  the  street  corners  in  campaign 
time. 

"About  this  time,  look  for  cold  winds,  with  some  snow," 
sagely  remarks  the  almanac  writer,  stringing  the  ten  words 
of  his  prediction  down  the  entire  column  of  the  month. 

"In  a  few  years,"  says  the  fortune  teller,  solemnly,  "you  will 
have  good  friends  and  more  money  than  you  have  now." 

"If  you  vote  for  this  man,"  shrieks  the  cart-tail  orator, 
"rents  will  be  lower  and  the  street  cleaner  and  you  will  get 
jol)s.  The  other  ticket  stands  for  graft  and  greed.  Vote  for 
it  if  you  want  your  children  to  run  in  the  streets,  because 
there   is  no   room   for   them   in   the   schools." 

Predicts  Like  a  Spellbinder. 

Like  the  spellbinder,  the  oracle  frequently  builds  on  the  look- 
on-this-picture-and-then-on-that  plan. 

"This  is  a  strong  line,"  mumbles  the  palmist.  "You  will 
meet  a  man  with  blue  eyes  who  will  help  you,  but  beware  of 
a  man  with  dark  hair." 

Sometimes  the  helper  has  light  hair  and  the  man  to  lie 
avoided  black  eyes.  But  invariably  Die  good  friend  of  the 
future  is  blond  and  the  devil  is  brimette.     No  seer  would  any 


WILES  OF  FOETUNE  TELLEES  351 

more  think  of  changing  that  color  scheme  than  the  writer  of 
a  melodrama  would  dare  stage  a  villain  who  didn't  have  hair 
and  mustache  as  black  as  night.  That  prediction  is  one  of 
the  traditions  of  the  art,  and  no  future  has  ever  been  com.- 
plete  without  the  dark  and  the  light  men  or  the  dark  and 
the  light  woman,  as  the  case  might  be. 

One  of  the  most  famous  of  fortune  tellers,  a  woman,  died 
suddenly.  She  had  been  reading  cards  in  the  same  house  for 
forty  years,  and  on  the  day  of  her  funeral  her  house  was 
crowded  with  mourners,  whose  future  she  had  foreseen  with 
so  much  shrewdness  that  not  one  of  the  200  or  more  men  and 
women  who  filed  by  the  coffin,  to  view  the  body  had  any  fault 
to  find  with  the  services  she  had  rendered.  On  the  contrary, 
they  compared  notes,  each  trying  to  pay  the  best  tribute  to 
the  dead  by  telling  the  most  wonderful  story  of  her  predictions. 

Warned  of  the  Enemy. 

"I  was  sitting  right  in  this  room  at  that  table  where  the 
flowers  are  today,"  said  one  mourner,  "and  she  said  to  me : 
'You  have  an  enemy.  It  is  here  on  this  card  where  you  can 
see  it  plainly.  But  here  is  a  friend,  a  tall,  light  man,  who 
will  come  between  you  and  your  enemy.  Put  your  trust  in  the 
tall,  light  man,  but  keep  away  from  a  dark  man.  There  is  a 
dark-haired  woman  who  pretends  to  be  your  friend,  but  lies 
about  you.' " 

Compare  that  prediction  of  the  oracle  with  this  forecast  of 
Daniel  Defoe's  famous  deaf  and  dumb  predictor,  Duncan 
Campbell. 

"To  Mme.  S h  W d;  I  see  but  one  misfortune  after 

the  year  of  1725.  A  black  man,  pretty  tall  and  fat,  seems 
to  wish  you  no  good.  Xever  tell  your  secrets  to  any  such 
persons,  and  their  malice  cannot  hurt  you." 

And   that  warning  wasn't    original    when    Mme.     S ^h 

W d  called  at  Duncan   Campbell's  lodging  in  London  to 

learn  what  was   what.     Xo  doubt   it  could  be  traced  beyond 


25^  WILES  OF  FORTUNE  TELLERS 

Delphi.    That's  almost  as  safe  a  guess  as  to  assume  that  Mme. 

S h  W d  -was  a  Sarah  Wood.     She  might  have  been  a 

Wedd  or  a  Weld,  but  that  is  doubtful. 

Predictions   Change  Little. 

So,  although  the  seer  of  Randolph  street  and  all  the  rest 
probably  never  heard  of  Duncan  Campbell  or  Nostradamus,  or 
of  their  predecessors  at  Delphi,  they  have  kept  the  profession 
of  forecasting  remarkably  free  of  innovations. 

"This  art  of  prediction,"  reads  Defoe's  Life  and  Adventures 
of  Duncan  Campbell,  "is  not  attainable  any  otherwise  than 
by  these  three  ways.  1.  It  is  done  by  the  company  of  familiar 
spirits  and  genii,  which  are  of  two  sorts  (soine  good  and 
some  bad),  who  tell  the  gifted  person  the  things,  of  which  he 
informs  other  people.  2.  It  is  performed  by  the  second  sight, 
which  is  very  various  'and  differs  in  most  of  the  possessors,  it 
being  only  a  very  little  in  some,  very  extensive  and  constant  in 
others;  beginning  with  some  in  their  infancy  and  leaving  them 
before  they  come  to  years,  happening  to  others  in  a  middle 
age,  to  others  again  in  an  old  age  that  never  had  it  before, 
and  lasting  only  for  a  term  of  years,  and  now  and  then  for  a 
very  short  period  of  time;  and  in  some  intermitting,  like  fits, 
as  it  were,  of  vision  that  leave  them  for  a  time,  and  then  return 
to  be  strong  in  them  as  ever;  and  it  being  in  a  manner  heredi- 
tary in  some  families,  whose  children  have  it  from  their  in- 
fancy (witliout  intermission)  to  a  great  old  age,  and  even  to 
the  time  of  their  death,  which  they  even  foretell  befoi-e  it 
comes  to  pass,  to  a  day — na)'',  even  to  an  hour.  ;i.  It  is  at- 
tained by  the  diligent  study  qf  the  lawful  part  of  the  art  of 
magic." 

Make  Enough  to  Retihk. 

Nowadays  the  prophets  see  to  it  that  their  miraculous  power 
does  not  depart  from  them  for  any  cause  whatsoever  until 
their  own  palms  have  been  crossed  with  enough  silver  to  en- 


WILES  OF  FOKTUxNTE  TELLEKS  253 

able  them  to  retire  in  comfort.  A  certain  Fatima  who  told 
fortunes  on  Madison  street  for  years  removed  her  card  from 
the  front  window  and  disappeared  altogether.  She  had  bought 
a  farm  np  the  state,  where  she  is  now  living  and  raising- 
fancy  breeds  of  poultry.  There  is  no  mortgage  on  the  farm, 
and  the  hens  have  grain  three  times  a  day. 

Just  which  one  of  Duncan  Campbell's  three  methods  a  cer- 
tain practitioner  uses  is  not  apparent,  but  he  was  one  of  the 
most  noted  and  successful  fortune  tellers,  and  his  men  patrons 
set  more  store  by  what  he  said  than  in  the  promises  of  the 
district  leaders. 

Answers  Questions  for  a  Dollar. 

He  has  reduced  his  business  to  a  fine  system,  and  all  the 
questions  that  anybody  could  possibly  think  of  are  set  down 
in  a  book  with  numbers  opposite  them.  And  these  books^i 
printed  in  Yiddish,  English  and  German,  anticipate  all  the 
hopes  and  fears  of  the  tenements.  The  questions,  all  of  a 
strong  local  flavor,  are  all  answered  by  the  fortune  teller  off- 
liand  for  $1,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  present  some 
of  the  toughest  problems  that  the  philanthropists  Avho  support 
the  Educational  Alliance  and  the  settlement  houses  have  Ijoen 
trying  for  years  to  solve.  To  illustrate,  take  this  group  of 
questions  under  the  general  classifications  "Home  and  Chil^ 
dren" : 

^Tan  I  learn  English?" 

"Can  I  make  my  son  or  daughter  learn  Yiddish?" 

"Shall  my  children  play  with  Christians?" 

The  book  printed  in  Yiddish  shows  the  most  wear.  It  h 
divided  under  these  heads:  "Travel  and  Letters,"  "Love  and 
Marriage,"  "Home  and  Children,"  "Business,"  "Work,"  "Luck 
and  Losses." 

Some  of  the  questions  make  interesting  reading  and  supple- 
mentary  to   the   reports    and   papers    of   the    various    Hebrew 


254  WILES  OF  FORTUNE  TELLERS 

charity  organizations.  One  of  the  more  recent  of  these  reports 
gave  statistics  of  desertions  of  wives,  and  "other  women"  was 
put  down  as  the  cause  in  a  large  number  of  cases. 

Married  Two  Wives;  What  Will  Happen? 

The  first  question  in  the  fortune  teller's  book  under  "Travel 
and  Letters"  is,  "Where  did  my  husband  elope  to  ?"  The  iden- 
tity of  the  other  woman  in  the  case  seems  to  be  secondary  in 
importance  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  deserter. 

Under  "Love  and  Marriage"  arc  'these  questions,  among 
many  others: 

"Is  my  bride's  dowry  as  big  as  she  says  it  is?" 

"I  have  married  two  wives;  what  will  happen?" 

"Shall  I  be  married  in  court?" 

Those  who  are  in  doubt  about  work  have  many  questions 
to  select  from,  the  list  starting  off  like  this: 

"Shall  I  be  a  letter  carrier?" 

"Shall  I  be  a  conductor?" 

"Shall  I  be  a  street  cleaner?" 

"Shall  I  be  an  actor?" 

"Shall  I  be  a  lady-figure?" 

A  lady-figure  is  undoubtedly  a  cloak  model. 

Under  "Business"  some  of  the  questions  are: 

"Shall  r  remain  a  peddler  or  keep  a  store?" 

"Shall  I  sue  my  partner?" 

"Will  my  partner  sue  me?" 

"Shall  I  take  my  wife  into  the  store  as  a  partner?" 

"Shall  I  take  my  husband  into  the  store  as  a  partner?" 

"Shall  I  buy  the  goods?" 

"Will  the  bank  fail?" 

Under  "Luck  and  Losses"  arc: 

"Was  T  robbed, by  friends  or  stranjffrs?" 

"Does  anybody  look  in  my  pockets  nights?" 

"Will  the  landlord  ]mi  mo  oiii  ?" 


WILES  OP^  FOKTUNE  TELLERS  255 

Roomful  of  Patrons. 

The  deviser  of  these  books  keeps  Ids  office  in  a  rear  tenement 
open  from  early  morning  till  late  at  night,  and  there  is  gen- 
erally a  roomful  of  anxious  patrons  awaiting  their  turns. 

At  a  single  sitting,  price  $1,  the  man  or  woman  who  wants 
to  know  may  select  three  questions.  She  puts  the  number 
corresponding  to  the  questions  on  a  slip  of  paper.  The  num- 
bers do  not  run  in  regular  order  through  the  book  or  through 
any  section  of  it. 

The  slip  of  paper  is  kept  concealed  by  the  questioner,  and 
later  on,  when  she  is  in  the  actual  presence  of  the  oracle,  she 
writes  those  numbers  again  on  another  slip  of  paper,  hidden 
from  the  fortune  teller  by  a  book  cover.  She  also  writes  her 
name  on  two  pieces  of  paper,  which  she  places  in  two  Bibles, 
opened  at  random  by  the  fortune  teller  after  she  has  named 
any  three  words  she  happens  to  see  on  the  page. 

Gets  Pointers  from  Customer. 

Then  the  books  are  closed,  the  soothsayer  tells  his  customer 
what  her  name  is  (he  is  not  often  absolutely  accurate  in  that 
part  of  the  game),  and  then  he  begins  to  talk  about  the  past 
and  future  in  such  a  rambling,  comprehensive  way  that  he 
is  almost  sure  to  hit  upon,  directly  or  indirectly,  the  questions 
she  has  in  mind.  If  he  is  too  far  off  the  trail  he  asks  the 
woman  from  time  to  time  if  she  understands  him,  and  from 
her  replies  and  questions  gets  a  further  clew  as  to  just  which 
three  questions  she  had  selected  from  the  lists.  Then  the  rest 
is  simple. 


266  WILES  OF  FOETUS E  TELLERS 


SPOOKS  RAIDED. 

DETECTIVES    WOOLDRIDGE    AND    BARRY     DE- 
SCEND ON  A  WEST  SIDE  MEDIUM'S  PLACE. 

Lively  Fight  Before  the  Officers  Succeed  in  Making  Ar- 
rests— One  of  the  Number  Set  Upon  and  Severely 
Beaten  Before  Aided — Spectators  at  the  Seance  Take 
Part  and  the  Row  Becomes  General — Search  of  the 
Premises  Reveals  a  Systematic  Plan  to  Deceive — 
Anger  of  the  Dupes  Turns  to  Chagrin  at  the  Revela- 
tions Made  by  the  Police. 

September  2,  1906,  Catherine  Nichols,  Sarah  Nichols  and 
Jennie  Nichols,  186  Sebor  street,  fake  exponents  of  materiali- 
zation of  spirits  and  general  "spook"  grafters,  were  arrested, 
the  seances  raided  and  the  game  closed,  by  Detectives  Woold- 
ridge  and  Barry. 

The  scene  of  the  raid  was  a  brick  building  at  184  Sebor 
street,  which  is  ju?t  east  of  Halstcd  and  a  block  south  of  Harri- 
son street.  ' 

The  medium  arrested  was  Miss  Jennie  Nichols,  who,  with 
her  mother,  Mrs.  Catherine  Nichols,  and  her  sister,  Sarah,  had 
been  gleaning  a  harvest  of  dollars  from  guillible  residents, 
mostly  of  the  West  Side  of  the  city,  during  the  last  two  years. 
The  establishment  of  the  Nichols  family  occupies  parts  of  two 
buildings,  the  mother  and  her  two  daughters  living  at  186 
Sebor  street,  next  door  to  184.  On  the  second  floor  of  the  latter 
address  was  located  the  hall  which  they  used  for  their  public 
seances. 

Plans  Are  Well  Laid. 

The  raid  was  made  on  the  authority  of  a  warrant  which  was 
applied  for  by  Miss  INfuriel  Miller,  a  young  woman  who  was 
induced  by  the  blandishments  of  other  mediums  to  come  to 


WILE8  OF  FOKTUNE  TELLERS 


"SPIRIT  PICTURES"  OF  WO  MEN   HELD   AS   BOGUS   MEDIUMS,  AND  SCENE  SHOW- 
iririfi  if  i'^¥^i  ^^'^^^^'^1  ffi^i^Hyng  SPQQ^^S  AND  DETECTIVES. 


Chicago  from  her  home  in  Portland,  Ore.  Miss  Miller,  who  is 
omployed  in  a  barber  shop  in  Clark  street,  is  slightly  deaf.  She 
t)ecame  interested  in  Spiritualism,  and  thus  came  in  touch  with 
tlie  Nichols'  outfit. 

She  had  written  to  another  Chicago  medium,  and  received 
letters  in  answer  signed  "Professor  Venazo." 

It  was  explained  to  Miss  Miller  that  the  wonderful  cures 
which  the  medium  professed  to  be  able  to  make  were  brought 
about  while  the  patient  was  in  a  trance.  In  a  letter  which  had 
been  turned  over  to  the  police,  "Professor  Venazo,"  which  is 


258  WILES  OF  FORTUNE  TELLERS 

the  name  with  which  an  accomplice  of  certain  Chicago  mediums 
signed  such  communications,  explained  that  because  of  stress 
of  business  it  would  be  impossible  to  undertake  to  cure  Miss 
Miller  of  her  deafness  unless  she  was  prepared  to  put  up  at 
least  $50  in  cash. 

The  letter  stated  that  if  she  would  send  to  "Professor 
Venazo"  $100  the  medium  would  undertake  to  go  to  her  homo 
and  cure  her  there.  If  she  did  not  wish  to  pay  that  much  money 
she  could  come  to  Chicago,  pay  the  medium  $50,  and  be  cured 
"while  in  a  trance." 

Detectives  Barry  and  David  Carroll  were  detailed  to  assist 
Wooldridge  in  serving  the  warrants  and  making  the  raid. 

Detectives  Attend  Service. 

Barry  and  Carroll  planned  to  effect  an  entrance  to  the 
"seance."  Inspector  Revere  was  informed  and  asked  to  give 
a  detail  of  six  officers,  who,  headed  by  Detective  "Wooldridge, 
went  to  the  hall  on  Sebor  street.  Barry  and  Carroll  had  pre- 
ceded them  and  succeeded  in  convincing  Jennie  Nichols,  who 
was  the  master  of  ceremonies,  that  they  were  interested  in 
spiritualism  and  desired  to  witness  the  materializations. 

When  they  went  to  the  hall.  Detective  Barry  walked  in  and 
found  twenty-eight  or  thirty  others  there  before  him.  Jennie 
Nichols  was  busy  arranging  the  spectators  in  seats.  She  took 
a  great  deal  of  care  about  placing  them.  Carroll  and  Barry 
entered  and  signed  their  names  on  the  register.  This  was  a 
book  in  which  everyone  who  is  admitted  to  a  seance  is  re- 
quested to  place  his  name  and  place  of  residence.  Barry  signed 
as  "John  Woods";  address,  142  Ashland  boulevard. 

Calling  Up  the  Spirits. 
When  the  seance  opened  Jennie  Nichols  conducted  those 
who  were  in  the  hall  through  the  main  room  and  the  one  at 
the  rear,  before  which  the  curtain  was  placed.  Ever^'thing 
was  all  right,  so  far  as  Detectives  Barry  and  Carroll  could  see. 
The  cabinet  from  which  the  spirits  were  to  come  stood  across 


WILES  OF  FOETUNE  TELLERS  259 

one  corner,  and  opposite  it  was  a  door  leading  into  one  of  the 
two  rooms  in  the  rear  of  the  hall. 

They  examined  the  cabinet  and  the  rooms  carefully,  but 
found  everything  all  right.  After  they  had  been  through  every- 
thing the  doors  were  locked  and  they  returned  to  their  seats, 
Miss  Nichols  making  some  other  changes  in  the  arrangements 
of  the  seats,  and  then  the  place  was  darkened. 

When  the  place  had  been  made  almost  entirely  dark,  Jennie 
Nichols,  the  medium,  began  pacing  back  and  forth  in  front  of 
the  curtain.  She  rubbed  her  hands  over  her  head  and  eyes  a 
number  of  times,  and  began  to  chant:  "Come,  0  queen,  0 
queen." 

When  she  began  to  call  on  the  "queen"  the  spectators  began 
to  get  excited.  Most  of  them  appeared  to  be  thoroughly  fa- 
miliar with  the  proceedings,  and  several  of  them  said:  "Oh, 
I  hope  it's  the  king." 

Then  the  medium  pulled  a  cord  which  was  attached  to  a  light 
enclosed  in  a  sheet-iron  case,  the  one  small  opening  of  which 
was  covered  with-  several  thicknesses  of  green  tissue  paper. 
When  she  pulled  the  string  the  room  became  darker  than  ever. 

Spirits  Begin"  to  Move. 

Before  she  began  her  incantations  the  medium  had  requested 
everyone  present  not  to  cross  their  feet,  and  to  try  to  assist 
her  to  bring  the  spirits  before  them.  She  said  that  it  would 
probably  not  be  possible  to  bring  a  spirit  for  everybody,  but 
that  if  all  helped  her,  the  spirits  wanted  by  many  in  the  audi- 
ence would  surely  appear. 

Then  she  asked  them  all  to  sing  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee," 
which  they  did,  and  after  a  few  more  passes  over  her  temples 
and  in  front  of  her  eyes  the  spirit  began  to  move.  The  de- 
tectives could  see  it,  and  they  began  to  think  they  had  been 
wrong  in  thinking  there  was  nothing  in  spiritualism.  It  cer- 
tainly appeared  real.  First  one  form  would  glide  back  and 
forth  in  front  of  the  curtain,  then  an  entirelv  different  one 


260  WIJ.ES  OF  FORTUNE  TELLERS 

would  appear.     Altogether  there  were  spirits  of  about  ten  men 
and  children  materialized. 

As  the  apparitions  moved  slowly  in  front  of  the  curtain,  in 
the  spectral  light  which  made  it  impossiMe  to  detect  more  than 
a  faint  outline  of  the  form,  women  rushed  forward  crying  out 
that  it  was  their  husband,  or  their  child,  that  they  saw.  They 
stretched  out  their  hands  to  clasp  the  forms  of  their  departed, 
but  Jennie  Nichols  and  her  male  assistant  would  take  them  by 
their  hands  and  tell  them  they  must  not  touch  the  spirit  or 
it  would  fade  away.  You  could  get  within  six  inches  of  the 
figures,  and  peer  into  the  faces  as  they  passed  to  and  fro,  but 
everyone  was  restrained  from  attempting  to  touch  them.  In 
the  ghostly  light  of  the  room  the  closest  inspection  could  not 
determine  that  the  figures  were  frauds,  so  clever  were  they  dis- 
guised. 

Keys  Up  the  Spectators. 

While  the  detectives  were  Avaiting  for  the  materialization,  a 
woman  they  knew  entered  the  room.  Barry  put  his  handker- 
chief up  to  his  face  for  fear  she  would  recognize  him.  They 
wanted  to  know  what  was  the  matter  with  him,  and  Barry  said 
that  he  guessed  lie  had  something  in  his  eye.  They  Avanted  to 
take  it  out,  and  he  had  to  put  his  handkerchief  away.  He 
thought  he  was  discovered,  but  the  woman,  Mrs.  Ella  Hooblor. 
319  West  Madison  street,  said  nothing  about  him.  After  they 
had  arrested  the  Nichols  woman,  j\Irs.  Hool)ler  told  Barry  she 
had  recognized  him  when  she  first  entered  the  room,  but  she 
thought  he  was  "bug"  in  the  game,  and  said  nothing. 

After  about  ten  materializations  of  husbands  and  children 
had  keyed  the  spectators  up  to  a  high  pitch,  Mrs.  Hoobler  asked 
for  the  spirit  of  her  daughter,  Helen.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
figure  of  a  young  girl,  clad  in  white  from  head  to  foot,  aj)- 
peared  before  the  curtain. 

"Oh,  Helen,  ^y  Helen  !*'  Mrs.  Hoobler  exclaimed,  rusliing 
to  the  apparition.  "Oh,  mamma!"  came  the  answer  in  a  slirill 
falsetto  voice. 


WILES  OK   FOKTUNK  TELLERS  361 

Medium  s    ParaoKernaira    SelzeJ   by    Police    in    Raid. 


262  WILES  OF  FOKTUNE  TELLEKS 

Jennie  Nichols  and  the  big  assistant  seized  Mrs.  Hoobler's 
hands  just  as  she  was  about  to  clasp  what  she  believed  to  be 
the  spirit  of  her  daughter  in  her  arms. 

"You  must  not  touch  it/'  Jennie  Nichols  told  her,  "or  the 
spirit  will  go  away/* 

The  poor,  almost  frantic  woman  kneeled  before  the  appari- 
tion. Barry  thought  it  was  time  to  get  busy,  and  he  whispered 
softly  to  Carroll:  "Watch  out,  there's  going  to  be  a  pinch." 
Then  he  threw  on  the  flashlight  and  whistled  for  the  squad 
outside  to  come  in. 

Just  as  he  did  this  the  "spook"  in  front  of  him  looked  so 
realistic  that  for  the  life  of  him  he  couldn't  decide  whether 
he  was  going  up  against  a  real  spirit  or  not.  But  he  took  a 
chance  and  grabbed  for  it.  Even  when  he  had  hold  of  it  and 
knew  it  must  be  flesh  and  blood,  it  seemed  so  slimy,  with  the 
white  stuff  rubbed  over  it,  that  he  felt  his  hair  rising. 

Just  about  that  time  the  medium  outfit  got  busy.  The  big 
man  who  had  been  helping  Jennie  Nichols  hold  the  hands  of  the 
people  who  were  trying  to  grab  the  spirits  of  their  dead  hit 
Barry  over  the  head  with  some  sort  of  a  club  that  knocked  him 
to  the  floor.  Jennie  Nichols  put  out  the  light  entirely,  grabbed 
Barry's  flashlight  and  began  pounding  him  over  the  head  with 
it.  They  went  to  the  floor  in  a  rough  and  tumble  scrimmage, 
the  crowd  on  top  of  them,  yelling  and  screaming. 

In  the  next  room  Carroll  was  busy,  too.  He  got  hold  of  Mrs. 
Catherine  Nichols,  the  mother,  who  had  been  helping  with  the 
show,  and  he  was  beset  by  spectators  who  were  incensed  be- 
cause the  seance  had  been  broken  up. 

WOOLDRIDGE    TaKES    A    HaND. 

When  Detective  Wooldridge  and  his  detail  broke  down  the 
doors  of  the  hall  and  made  their  entrance  into  the  place  it  was 
pitch  dark,  and  they  had  to  strike  matches  before  they  could 
separate  the  combatants. 

After  a  semblance  of  order  had  been  restored  in  the  place 


WILES  OF  FOETUNE  TELLERS  363 

the  premises  were  searched,  and  a  most  astounding  outfit  of 
disguises  discovered.  Before  this  development  the  spectators, 
who  had  been  held  in  the  place,  were  very  angry  with  the 
officers,  saying  that  they  had  been  attending  the  seances  for 
the  last  two  years ;  that  they  knew  Jennie  Kichols  as  a  medium 
had  shown  them  the  spirits  of  their  dead.  When  the  officers 
produced  Sarah  Nichols,  to  whom  Detective  Barry  had  held 
when  he  seized  the  "spook,"  they  discovered  that  she  had  been 
wearing  a  pair  of  sandal  slippers  with  felt  five  inches  thick 
for  soles;  a  pair  of  men's  black  trousers  and  the  white  shroud 
and  painted  picture  face  of  a  young  girl. 

Attached  to  a  pole  in  front  of  her  was  a  paper  head,  around 
which  was  a  white  shroud  four  feet  in  length.  Those  in  at- 
tendance believed  this  image  to  be  the  spirit  of  a  believer's  dead 
relative.  The  "medium"  had  "spook"  images  of  men,  women 
and  children,  and  could  produce  them  as  circumstances  de- 
manded. The  light  was  turned  up,  and  the  contemptible  im- 
position on  credulity  was  exposed  to  twenty-six  dupes,  who  had 
been  paying  $1  apiece  for  the  privilege  of  attending  meetings 
of  the  "spook"  grafters  for  years.  It  was  the  greatest  expose 
of  "spooks"  that  has  been  made  in  many  years.  A  wagon  load 
of  masks,  wigs,  false  whiskers,  tin  horns,  gowns  with  safety 
pins  in  them,  skulls  and  skeletons  with  cross-bones  to  match, 
were  seized. 

Women  Refuse  to  Talk. 

At  the  station  the  women  refused  to  talk.  Sarah  Nichols, 
the  "spook,"  had  donned  a  house  dress  before  she  was  taken 
to  the  station.  Jennie  Nichols,  the  "medium,"  was  dressed  in 
a  neat  black  gown  of  rich  material.  The  mother  appeared 
in  a  black  skirt  and  a  white  shirtwaist.  The  latter  is  a  gray- 
haired  woman  apparently  about  50  years  old.  She  wept  copi- 
ously. Sarah  Nichols  also  wept.  In  the  scrimmage  after  the 
arrest  her  ear  had  been  injured,  and  it  was  bleeding  when  the 
trio  was  booked  at  the  station. 

Jennie  Nichols  was  the  most  composed  of  all.     She  held  a, 


364  WILES  OF  FOETUNE  TELLEKS 

palm  leaf  fan  in  front  of  her  face  and  above  it  twinkled  a  pair 
of  shrewd  blue  eyes.  As  she  and  her  relatives  were  led  from 
the  private  room  at  Harrison  street  she  even  laughed,  although 
her  mother  and  her  sister  were  in  tears,  and  her  victims  were 
denouncing  her  for  having  robbed  them,  through  their  credu- 
lity, of  hundreds  of  dollars,  which  many  of  them  could  ill  af- 
ford to  lose. 

WOOLDRIDGE    MAKES    GhOST    WaLK    IN    POLICE    CoURT. 

A  "spook"  sat  on  the  bench  with  Justice  Prindiville.  He 
made  ghosts  walk  and  graveyards  yawn. 

The  "spook"  was  Detective  Clifton  E.  Wooldridge. 

When  Miss  Sarah  Nichols,  "the  ghost,"  Miss  Jennie  Nich- 
ols, "the  trance  medium,"  and  Mrs,  Catherine  Nichols,  mother 
of  the  other  two  known  as  the  "overseer,"  appeared  in  court  to 
answer  to  charges  of  obtaining  money  by  false  pretenses  through 
spiritualistic  seances.  Detective  Wooldridge  crowded  to  the 
center  of  the  stage. 

He  bore  a  great  board,  on  which  were  tacked  white  shrouds, 
grinning  skulls  and  cross-bones,  the  costume  of  an  Indian,  and 
other  instruments  of  the  medium's  trade. 

"For  the  benefit  of  the  public  at  large,"  he  said,  addressing 
the  court,  "I  ask  permission  to  expose  the  methods  of  these 
fake  spiritualists." 

The  permission  was  given,  and  "Spook"  Wooldridge  took 
the  wool  sack. 

"Spook"  Wooldridge  Demonstrates. 

He  lit  the  punk  with  wliich  the  mediums  wore  wont  to  light 
up  the  skull.     He  burned  incense.     He  put  on  a  white  gown. 

"This  is  Carrie's  garment,"  he  said,  pointing  to  where  "Gbost" 
Carrie,  twenty-four  years  old  and  Inixom,  stood. 

He  went  through  the  whole  performance,  save  the  grease 
paint.  He  started  to  daub  his  face  with  the  stuiV.  wliiih  gave  a 
ghostly  hue.  when  the  justice  interrupted : 


WILES  OF  FORTUNE  TELLERS  365 

"You  needn't  dirty  your  face,  Friend  Spook.  You've  scored 
your  points  already."     The  "Spook"  had,  indeed. 

Despite  the  exposures,  many  women  and  a  few  men  who 
had  come  to  hear  the  cases,  expressed  their  devotion  to  the 
persons  arrested  and  to  the  "cause." 

They  finally  became  so  demonstrative  that  Justice  Prindi- 
ville  ordered  the  court  room  cleared  of  the  "devotees." 

"This  is  not  a  matinee,  a  spiritualists'  meeting  or  a  circus," 
said  the  Justice.     "Let  the  devotees  meet  in  the  outer  hall." 

Fifty  women,  of  all  ages  and  many  conditions  of  life,  stood 
with  mouths  wide  open  and  eyes  bulging  as  Wooldridge  went 
through  his  performance.  They  were  the  victims  of  the  Nich- 
ols women. 

Jennie  Nichols  and  Sarah  Nichols  were  fined  $100  each. 

Aerest  South  Side  Mediums. 

To  conclude  the  record  of  the  day.  Detectives  Wooldridge 
and  Barry,  accompanied  by  two  officers  from  the  Cottage  Grove 
station,  visited  a  seance  given  by  Clarence  A.  Beverly  and  Mrs. 
M.  Dixon  at  iVrlington  hall,  Thirty-first  street  and  Indiana 
avenue.  The  officers  bought  tickets  and  awaited  the  perform- 
ance. After  a  lecture  on  psychic  problems  by  "Dr."  Beverly 
and  a  programme  of  music  rendered  by  children,  "Dr."  Dixon 
took  the  rostrum  and  went  through  a  series  of  clairvoyant  dis- 
coveries. 

Among  the  things  which  she  professed  to  predict  while  in 
her  "trance"  was  a  prognostication  which  had  not  a  little  to  do 
with  the  developments  of  the  evening.  After  she  had  pointed 
out  a  number  of  persons  in  the  audience  and  told  what  they 
had  done  or  should  do,  she  discovered  Wooldridge  and  singled 
him  out. 

"I  see  a  man  with  glasses  who  has  his  hands  crossed  over 
his  knees,"  she  said.  "I  am  governed  by  the  spirit  of  John 
Googan,  an  Irishman.     He  gives  you  a  message,"  pointing  to 


366  WILES  OF  FORTUNE  TELLERS 

Wooldridge,    '^'^and   says   that  whatever   John   orders   must   be 
done.'^ 

At  this  Wooldridge,  arising  from  his  seat,  advanced  to  the 
rostrum. 

Officer  Serves  Papers, 

"John  Collins,  chief  of  police,  says,  Mrs.  Dixon,  that  I  am 
to  put  you  under  arrest  under  a  state  warrant  charging  you 
with  receiving  money  by  a  confidence  game.  I  also  have  a 
warrant  charging  the  same  offense  against  Clarence  A.  Beverly. 
Dr.  Beverly,  please  come  forth." 

Dr.  Beverly  presented  himself,  and  both  he  and  Mrs.  Dixon 
were  taken  to  Harrison  street,  where  strenuous  efforts  on  their 
behalf  on  the  part  of  "Dr."  Harry  H.  Tobias,  spiritual  mental 
healer,  with  offices  at  118  East  Thirty-third  street,  and  others, 
failed  to  procure  them  bonds. 

The  arrest  of  Beverly  and  Mrs.  Dixon  was  made  on  a  warrant 
signed  by  Miss  Miller,  who  had  entered  into  correspondence 
with  them  from  her  home  in  Portland,  Ore.  The  fee  in  Chi- 
cago was  to  have  been  $50,  according  to  the  letters  she  received 
from  the  mediums,  as  in  the  preceding  instance.  She  borrowed 
money  to  come  to  Chicago,  and  had  but  $25  to  pay  the  'Tiealers." 
When  she  received  no  benefit  from  their  treatment  she  made 
complaint  and  was  threatened  with  violence,  she  alleges.  There- 
upon she  laid  her  case  before  Chief  Collins,  resulting  in  the 
raid  and  the  closing  up  of  this  place. 

Thus  did  the  sleuth  a-sleuthing  vanquish  the  ubiquitous 
"spook,"  the  "ghost,"  the  "spirit,"  the  re-incarnation,  the  Ma- 
hatma,  the  "sending,"  and  all  the  hosts  of  the  immaterial 
world,  whose  immaterialism  was  being  converted  into  good  hard 
material  cash  by  the  producers  of  the  evanescent  shapes  from 
beyond  the  veil. 

Thus  did  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  and  his  able  assistants  make 
"spooking"  a  dangerous  business  in  Chicago. 


WIFE   OR  GALLOWS? 


PREFERS  HANGING  TO  LIVING  WITH  HIS  WIFE. 

Hugo  Devel  prefers  being  hauged  to  living  with  his  wife. 

Unable  to  escape  her  in  any  other  way,  lacking  the  courage 
or  nerve  to  kill  himself,  and  shuddering  at  the  idea  of  life 
imprisonment  with  the  woman  he  had  promised  to  love  and 
cherish,  he  confessed  to  a  murder  he  did  not  commit,  and 
was  ready  to  go  upon  the  gallows  or  to  penal  servitude  for  life 
in  the  stead  of  the  real  murderer.  ' 


He'd  %ther^e  hanged 
than  live  with  his  wipe. 


Now  he  is  free,  and  miserable,  and  in  his  home  at  Lubeck, 
in  Germany.  He  is  envying  Franz  Holz,  who  is  awaiting  the 
gallows. 

Devel  admits  sadly  that  he  had  a  double  purpose  in  wanting 
to  die  on  the  gallows.  First,  that  he  would  escape  his  wife; 
and,  second,  that,  by  being  hanged  he  would  make  it  improb- 
able that  any  other  man  should  meet  his  fate — not  his  fate 
on  the  gallows,  but  his  fate  in  having  wedded  Frau  Devel. 


268  WJFPJ  OR  GALLOWS? 

The  ease,  whicli  was  cleared  up  by  the  Hamburg  police,  fur- 
nished a  problem  that  would  have  defied  the  cunning  of  Sher- 
lock Holmes  and  all  his  kindred  analysts.  Briefly  stated,  the 
facts  in  the  case,  which  is  the  strangest  one  ever  given  to  a 
detective  department  to  solve,  are  these: 

Woman  Was  Robbed  and  Murdered. 

A  few  months  ago  a  certain  Frau  Gimble,  of  Munich,  was 
cruelly  murdered  by  a  man.  The  evident  motive  of  the  deed 
was  robbery,  and  that  the  crime  was  planned  and  premedi- 
tated there  was  sufficient  evidence.  Every  clew  and  circum- 
stance pointed  to  Franz  Holz,  He  was  known  to  have  been  at 
or  near  the  scene  of  the  murder  shortly  before  its  commission. 
He  knew  the  woman,  and  had  knowledge  that  she  kept  a  con- 
siderable sum  of  money  in  her  home.  He  was  known  to  have 
been  without  money  for  days  prior  to  the  murder,  and  imme- 
diately after  the  deed,  and  before  the  body  was  discovered,  he 
had  appeared  with  a  quantity  of  mone}',  made  some  purchases, 
bought  drinks  for  acquaintances,  and  then  disappeared. 

The  police  were  on  his  trail  within  a  short  time  after  the 
finding  of  the  body  of  the  murdered  woman.  Holz  had  fled 
toward  Berlin,  and  a  warning  was  sent  in  all  directions,  con- 
taining descriptions  of  the  fugitive. 

The  awfulness  of  the  deed  attracted  the  more  attention  be- 
cause of  the  locality  and  the  ruthless  and  cruel  manner  of  its 
commission.  While  the  police  were  making  a  rapid  search  for 
the  fugitive  Holz,  Hugo  Devel,  a  well-to-do  tradesman  in 
Lubeck,  surrendered  himself  to  the  police  of  his  home  town  and 
confessed  that  he,  and  not  Holz,  had  committed  the  crime. 
Devel  had  been  in  Hamburg  at  the  time  the  crime  was  com- 
mitted. His  confession,  which  destroyed  all  the  evidence  and 
all  the  theories  implicating  Holz,  staggered  the  detectives. 

Devel  Confesses  to  the  Crime. 
Although  apparently  saved   from  a  remarkable  network  of 
circumstantial  evidence,  and  no  longer  wanted  for  the  murder 


WIFE  Oii  UALLUWS?  369 

of  the  Gimble  woman,  the  German  police  reasoned  that  Holz, 
if  he  had  not  fled  because  of  that  crime,  must  have  fled  be- 
cause of  some  other  crime.  So  the  department,  which  has  a 
name  a  couple  of  feet  long,  which  in  English  would  mean, 
"the  department  for  finding  out  everything  about  everybody," 
kept  on  the  trail. 

Meantime  the  police  of  Hamburg  got  possession  of  Devel 
and  examined  him.  From  the  first  they  were  uneasy.  He  con- 
fessed that  he  murdered  the  woman  to  get  her  money,  and  be- 
yond that  would  not  tell  anything.  It  is  not  customary  for 
the  police  to  insist  that  a  man  who  confesses  that  he  is  guilty 
of  murder  shall  prove  it,  but  there  were  facts  known  to  the 
police  which  made  them  wonder  how  it  was  possible  for  Devel 
to  have  killed  the  woman.  They  used  the  common  police 
methods,  and  made  the  prisoner  talk.  The  more  he  talked 
the  more  apparent  it  became  to  the  police  that  he  was  inno- 
cent, although  he  still  claimed  vehemently  that  he,  and  he 
alone,  killed  the  Gimble  woman. 

Police  I.earn  He  is  ISTot  Guilty, 

Some  of  his  statements  were  ridiculous.  For  instance,  he 
did  not  know  what  quarter  of  the  city  the  woman  lived  in.  He 
did  not  know  how  she  had  been  murdered.  He  said  he  climbed 
through  a  window  and  killed  the  woman.  When  pressed,  he 
said  the  window  was  the  dining-room  window.  In  view  of  the 
fact  that  she  was  killed  while  working  in  a  little  open,  out-door 
kitchen  when  murdered,  the  police  became  satisfied  that  Devel 
was  not  the  man,  and  ordered  the  pursuit  of  Holz  resumed  by 
all  departments. 

The  case  even  then  was  a  remarkable  one,  and  one  which 
would  have  defied  any  theoretical  detective.  The  police  proved 
that  it  was  impossible  that  Devel  should  be  confessing  in  order 
to  shield  Holz — first,  because  he  never  knew  Holz;  and  sec- 
ond, because  the  police  had  informed  him  that  the  real  mur- 
derer was  in  custody,  in  order  to  discover  a  reason  for  his  con- 
fession.    It  was  suspected  that  Devel  was  partly  insane  and 


270  WIFE  OR  GALLOWS V 

seeking  notoriety.  Everything  in  his  life  refuted  that  idea. 
He  was  a  quiet,  orderly  citizen,  who  seldom  read  newspapers, 
and  who  neither  was  interested  in  crime  or  criminals.  He 
owned  a  small  business  in  Lubeck,  attended  to  it  strictly,  drank 
little,  and  apparently  was  as  sane  as  any  one. 

Searching  for  Motive  of  Confession. 

The  ease  worried  the  police  officials.  The  absolute  lack  of 
reason  for  Devel's  confession  stimulated  their  curiosity.  He 
was  held  in  custody  for  weeks,  and  then  the  police  gave  up  in 
despair,  and,  as  Holz  had  been  arrested  and  had  confessed  to 
everything,  the  release  of  Devel  was  ordered.  The  order  of 
release  proved  the  move  that  revealed  the  truth.  When  he  was 
told  that  he  was  free  to  return  home,  Devel  broke  down  and 
begged  the  police  to  keep  him  in  prison,  to  hang  him,  to  poison 
him,  but  not  to  send  him  home. 

In  his  agony  he  confessed  that  the  only  reason  he  confessed 
the  murder  was  that  he  desired  to  get  hanged,  and  that  he 
preferred  hanging  to  life  with  his  wife. 

The  hard-hearted  police  set  him  free — literally  threw  him 
out  of  the  prison,  and  he  returned  to  his  wife  in  Lubeck.  The 
following  day  he  resumed  charge  of  his  business. 

An  English  correspondent  visited  Devel  in  his  shop  and  made 
certain  inquiries  of  him  regarding  the  case.  As  the  hanging 
editor  would  say,  "the  condemned  man  was  nervous."  He  was 
afraid  his  wife  would  read  what  he  said,  but  the  correspond- 
ent finally  got  him  to  tell. 

"I  desired  to  be  hung,"  said  Devel,  mournfully.  "Life  is 
not  worth  the  living,  and  with  my  wife  it  is  worse  than  death. 
If  I  had  been  hanged  no  other  man  would  marry  my  wife,  and 
I  would  save  them  from  my  fate.  Many  times  have  I  planned 
to  kill  myself  to  escape  her.  That  is  sin,  and  I  lack  the  brav- 
ery to  kill  myself,  besides.  If  they  will  not  hang  me  I  must 
continue  to  live  with  my  wife." 

Devel  states,  among  other  things,  that  these  are  the  chief 
grievances  against  married  life  in  general,  and  his  wife  in 
particular : 


WIFE  OR  GALLOWS?  'iHi 

She  was  slender,  and  became  fat  and  strong. 

She  was  beautiful,  and  became  ugly  and  coarse. 

She  was  tender,  and  grew  hard. 

She  was  loving,  and  grew  virulent. 

She  grew  whiskers  on  her  chin. 

She  called  him  "pig." 

She  wore  untidy  clothes,  and  her  hair  was  unkempt. 

She  refused  to  give  him  beer. 

Her  breath  smelled  of  onions  and  of  garlic. 

She  threw  hot  soup  upon  him. 

She  continually  upbraided  him  because  there  were  no  chil- 
dren. 

She  scolded  him  in  the  presence  of  neighbors. 

She  refused  to  permit  him  to  bring  his  friends  home. 

She  came  into  his  store  and  scolded  him. 

She  accused  him  of  infidelity. 

She  disturbed  him  when  he  slept  in  the  garden  on  Sundays. 

She  made  him  cook  his  own  dinners. 

She  spilled  his  beer  when  he  drank  quietly  with  friends. 

She  told  tales  about  him  among  the  neighbors,  and  injured 
his  business. 

She  served  his  sausages  and  his  soup  cold,  and  sometimes 
did  not  have  his  meals  for  him  when  he  came  home. 

She  did  not  make  the  beds  nor  clean  the  house. 

She  took  cards  out  of  his  skat  deck. 

She  talked  continually,  and  scolded  him  for  everything  or 
nothing. 

She  opened  the  windows  when  he  closed  them,  and  closed 
them  when  he  opened  them. 

She  poured  water  into  his  shoes  while  he  slept. 

She  cut  off  his  dachshund's  tail. 

These  things,  he  said,  made  him  prefer  to  be  hanged  to 
living  with  her. 

Incidentally  Holz,  who  is  awaiting  execution,  expresses  an 
earnest  desire  to  trade  places  with  Herr  Devel. 

There  is  no  accounting  for  tastes. 


A  CLEVER  SHOPLIFTER. 


DETECTIVE  WOOLDRIDGE  FINDS  A  FAIR 
CRIMINAL. 

While  passing  through  the  Fair,  one  of  the  largest  retail 
dry  goods  establishments  in  Chicago,  Detective  Wooldridge 
noticed  one  of  the  cleverest  shoplifters  that  ever  operated  in 
Chicago,  Bertha  Lebecke,  known  as  "Fainting  Bertha." 

She  was  standing  in  front  of  the  handkerchief  counter, 
where  her  actions  attracted  Wooldridge's  attention,  and  he 
concluded  to  watch  her.  She  called  the  girl's  attention  to 
something  on  the  shelf  and  as  she  turned  to  get  it  Bertha's 
hand  reached  out  and  took  a  half  dozen  expensive  lace  hand- 
kerchiefs, which  disappeared  in  the  folds  of  her  skirt. 

The  act  was  performed  so  quickly  and  with  such  cleverness 
that  it  would  have  gone  unnoticed  unless  one  were  looking  right 
at  her  and  saw  her  take  the  handkerchiefs. 

From  the  handkerchief  counter  she  went  to  the  drug  de- 
partment, where  she  secured  several  bottles  of  perfume.  As 
she  was  leaving  this  counter  she  met  a  Central  detective  who 
had  arrested  her  before  for  the  same  offense.  He  stopped  a 
few  yards  from  her  to  make  some  trifling  purchases.  She. 
thinking  he  was  watching  her,  left  the  store. 

From  the  Fair  she  went  to  Siegel-Cooper's,  anotlier  large 
dry  goods  store  several  blocks  away.  Detective  Wooldridge  fol- 
lowed her.  She  was  seen  to  go  from  counter  to  counter,  and 
from  each  one  she  succeeded  in  getting  some  article. 

As  she  was  leaving  the  store  she  was  placed  under  arrest 
by  Detective  Wooldridge  and  taken  to  the  Police  Station. 

When  she  was  arrested  she  fainted,  and  a  great  crowd  gath- 
ered around  her,  and  many  of  the  women  cried  and  implored 
Detective  Wooldridge  not  to  arrest  her,  but  he  would  not  lie 
moved  by  any  of  them  to  let  her  go  free. 


'A  CLEVEJ!  SHOPLIFTER  »r.3 


Minting  3Bmm' 


274  A  CLEVER  SHOPLIFTER 

When  she  arrived  at  the  Police  Station  she  was  searched,  and 
beneath  the  folds  of  her  skirt  was  found  a  strong  waist  pocket 
which  looked  like  a  petticoat.  It  consisted  of  two  pieces  of 
material  gathered  full  at  the  top  with  a  strong  cord  or  pucker- 
ing string  run  through,  and  sewed  together  around  the  edges. 
In  front  of  this  great  bag  was  a  slit  two  feet  long  opening  from 
the  top  to  within  a  few  inches  of  the  bottom.  This  petticoat  was 
worn  under  the  dress  skirt.  On  each  side  of  the  outside  skirt 
was  a  long  slit  concealed  by  the  folds  of  the  skirt,  and  with 
one  hand  she  could  slip  the  stolen  articles  in  through  the  slit 
in  the  inside  of  her  dress  and  into  the  petticoat  bag  to  the 
opening  in  front.  The  capacity  of  the  bag  was  enormous.  She 
had  stolen  some  $40  or  $50  worth  of  goods  when  arrested.  The 
following  morning  she  was  arraigned  in  the  Police  Court  and 
heavily  fined,  and  the  goods  were  restored  to  the  merchants. 

Bertha  Lebecke,  27  years  old,  is  conceded  by  Illinois  state 
authorities  to  be  the  most  troublesome  person  who  ever  crossed 
the  state  line  from  any  direction  at  any  time. 

Just  how  large  a  cash  bonus  the  state  treasury  today  might 
be  willing  to  advance  could  it  be  assured  of  Bertha's  deporta- 
tion forever  beyond  the  confines  of  Illinois  is  something  dif- 
ficult to  estimate,  but  it  is  certain  that  in  the  asylums  for  the 
insane  at  Kankakee,  Elgin  and  Bartonville,  and  in  the  state 
penitentiary  at  Joliet  there  are  attendants  on  salaries  wlio 
would  make  personal  contributions  to  help  swell  the  possible 
fund. 

Yet  "Fainting  Bertha"  Lebecke  is  one  of  the  prettiest, 
blondest,  most  delicate  handed  little  bits  of  well-developed 
femininity  that  ever  made  a  marked  success  in  deceiving  people 
of  both  sexes  and  all  conditions  in  public,  afterwards  deceiv- 
ing officials  of  jails,  asylums  and  penitentiaries  until  bars  and 
gates  and  frowning  walls  were  as  cobwebs  before  her. 
Sleeps  All  Day;  Makes  Fight  Hideous. 

Gates  of  steel  never  have  held  her  in  jail  or  asylum.  In 
tlie  mightier  penitentiaries  she  has  made  herself  such  an  nn- 


A  CLEVER  SHOPLIFTER  275 

controlled  fury  by  night — sleeping  calmly  all  day  long  and 
resting  for  the  next  seance — that  penitentiary  gates  have 
opened  for  her  in  the  hope  of  having  her  maintained  as  an 
asylnm  ward.  After  which  "Fainting  Bertha"  has  secured  keys 
to  asylum  doors  and  gone  htr  untrammeled  way  straight  back 
to  a  police  record  which  for  years  has  shown  her  to  be  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  pickpockets,  diamond  snatchers  and  shop- 
lifters of  her  time. 

Making  such  a  nuisance  of  herself  in  the  penitentiary  as  no 
longer  to  be  tolerated  in  a  refined  convict  community,  she 
proves  her  madness.  In  the  locked,  barred,  asylum  she  proves 
ber  cunning  at  escape.  And,  once  more  at  liberty,  the  aban- 
don with  which  she  goes  after  personal  property  in  any  form, 
at  any  time  and  under  any  circumstances,  proves  her  skill 
as  a  thief  and  her  unbalance  in  the  "get  away." 

There  is  her  escape  from  the  qsylum  at  Elgin  on  the  night 
of  December  25,  1904.  Christmas  eve  she  had  fainted  in  the 
arms  of  an  attendant  and  in  the  scurrying  which  followed 
had  secured  the  ke5^s  to  the  gates.  On  the  night  of  Christmas 
she  went  out  of  the  Elgin  asylum,  boarded  an  electric  car  for 
Aurora  and  bought  a  railroad  ticket  to  Peoria. 

Stole  $1,000  Worth  of  Goods  in  Two  Days. 

On  the  way  to  Peoria  she  relieved  the  conductor  of  $30  in 
bills,  secreting  them  in  her  hat.  In  Peoria,  within  forty-eight 
hours,  she  had  stolen  a  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  goods  from 
stores,  registered  at  three  hotels  under  assumed  names,  and 
was  in  a  chair  car  with  a  ticket  for  Omaha  when  the  Peoria 
police  had  followed  her  easy  tracks  through  the  city.  Perhaps 
the  broadest,  most  easily  identified  track  was  that  which  she 
left  in  a  barber  shop  in  the  National  Hotel,  where  she  ap- 
peared for  an  egg  shampoo.  Two  eggs  had  been  broken  into 
her  shiny  hair  when  Bertha  promptly  fainted  and  rolled  out 
of  the  chair.  As  a  count  of  shop  equipment  showed  nothing 
missing  an  hour  later,  the  barber  shop  proprietor  was  at  a 
loss  as  to  the  purpose  of  the  faint. 


376  A  CLEVER  SHOPLIFTER 

This  girlish  young  woman,  with  the  baby  dimples  and  skin 
of  peach  and  cream,  the  innocent  blue  eyes,  and  the  smiles 
tlmt  play  so  easily  over  her  face  as  she  talks  vivaciously  and 
with  keen  sense  of  both  wit  and  humor,  is  a  study  for  the 
psychologist.  There  is  no  affeetedness  of  speech — for  the  mo- 
ment it  is  childishly  genuine.  She  could  sit  in  a  drawing  room 
and  have  half  a  dozen  admirers  in  her  train. 

But  reform  schools,  asylums  and  penitentiaries  are  institu- 
tions through  which  this  young  woman  has  graduated  up  to 
that  pinnacle  of  notorious  accomplishment  which  today  is  cen- 
tering upon  "Fainting  Bertha"  Lebecke  the  official  attentions 
of  a  great  state.  What  to  do  with  her  is  the  question. 
Kept  at  South  Bartonville  Without  Locks. 

Dr.  George  A.  Zeller,  superintendent  of  the  asylum  for  the 
incurable  insane  at  South  Bartonville,  having  fought  for  the 
care  of  Bertha  in  his  institution,  purposes  to  make  her  a  tract- 
able patient  and  willing  to  remain.  He  has  the  history  of  his 
institution  back  of  him,  from  whose  doors  and  windows  he 
lias  torn  away  $6,000  worth  of  steel  netting  and  steel  bars. 

In  the  first  place,  "Fainting  Bertha"  will  have  nothing  to 
gain  by  fainting  at  Bartonville;  she  is  promised  merely  a 
drowning  dash  of  cold  water  when  she  falls.  She  can  secure 
no  keys  by  fainting,  for  the  reason  that  there  are  no  keys  to 
doors.  A  nurse,  wideawake  for  her  eight-hour  nursing  duty, 
is  always   at   hand   and   always   watchful. 

"Take  away  the  show  of  restraint  if  you  would  have  a  patient 
cease  fighting  against  restraint,"  is  the  philosophy  of  Dr. 
Zeller.  "Human  vigilance  always  was  and  always  will  be  the 
greatest  safeguard  for  the  insane." 

If  "Fainting  Bertha"  Lebecke  were  a  grizzled  amazon,  even, 
she  might  be  a  simpler  proposition  for  the  state.  She  is  too 
pretty  and  plump,  however,  to  think  of  restraining  by  the 
harsher  methods,  if  harsh  methods  are  employed.  She  can 
pass  out  of  a  storm  of  hysterical  tears  in  an  instant  and  smiU> 
through   them  like  a   stream  of  sunshine.     Or  as  (piickly  sbo 


A  CLEVEK  SHOPLIFTEE  3?? 

can  throw  off  the  pretty  little  witticism  and  airy  conceit  of 
Jier  baby  hands  and  become  a  vixen  fury  with  blazing  blue 
eyes  that  are  a  warning  to  her  antagonist. 

And  at  large,  exercising  her  charms,  she  can  become  the 
''good  fellow"  to  the  everlasting  disappearance  of  half  a  dozen 
different  valuables  in  one's  tie  or  pockets. 

History  of  "Fainting  Bertha." 

Bertha  Lebecke  says  she  was  born  in  Council  Bluffs,  la.,  in 
1880.  Save  for  the  trick  of  raising  her  brows  while  animated, 
thus  wrinkling  her  forehead  before  her  time,  she  might  pass 
easily  for  twenty-three  years  of  age.  In  these  twenty-seven 
years,  however,  Bertha  Lebecke  has  kept  the  institutions  of 
four  states  guessing — to  some   extent  experimenting. 

Her  father  was  a  cobbler,  and  there  were  five  children,  only 
one  other  of  them  living.  The  father  is  dead.  The  mother, 
with  the  one  sister,  is  living  in  Council  Bluffs.  Seven  asylums 
and  one  state's  prison  have  held  her — for  a  time;  Kankakee 
three  times  and  Elgin  twice,  with  two  escapes  from  each  place 
credited  to  her  childish  cunning.  But  today  the  face  of  Bertha 
I^ebecke  in  trouble  anywhere  in  Christian  civilization  would 
draw  helping  funds  for  less  than  her  asking. 

"Don't  write  that  I  am  the  awful  creature  that  the  papers 
have  pictured  me,"  she  exclaimed,  with  a  tragic  movement  of 
her  little  hands.  "Oh,  I  have  been  a  bad  girl — I  know  that — 
but  not  as  bad  as  they  accuse  me  of  being,"  burying  her  face 
in  her  arm. 

But  in  a  moment  she  was  sitting  up,  dry  eyed,  stitching  on 
the  bit  of  linen  "drawn  work"  which  she  said  was  intended  for 
Gov.   Deneen  at  Springfield. 

Criticises  the  Linen  Purchased  by  the  State. 
"But  what  awful  linen!"  she  exclaimed,  holding  it  out  to 
Dr.  Zeller  as  she  sat  in  a  ward  with  twenty  other  women  in- 
mates  regarded   as  among  the   hardest  to  watch  and  control 


278  A  CLEVER  SHOPLIFTER 

among  the  1,900  inmates  of  the  great  institution.     "I'm  sur- 
prised at  you!     Can't  you  buy  better  linen  than  that?" 

But  while  she  talked  and  the  doctor  smiled,  a  small  key  fit- 
ting nothing  in  particular  was  laid  by  Dr.  Zeller  close  at 
hand  and  it  disappeared  in  ten  seconds.  Likewise  a  pencil 
from  the  doctor's  pocket  found  its  way  almost  unnoticed  into 
"Fainting  Bertha's"  blonde  hair.  Her  smiling  face  all  turned 
to  frowns  when  finally,  one  at  a  time,  he  took  the  key  from 
her  waist  and  the  pencil  from  its  hiding  place  in  her  hair. 

"Did  you  ever  know  a  man  named  Gunther?"  asked  Dr. 
Zeller  suddenly. 

"Yes — what  of  it?"  she  asked  quickly,  with  a  show  of  nerv- 
ousness. 

"He  is  in  the  penitentiary." 

"Good !  Good !"  exclaimed  the  girl.  "I'm  delighted  to  hear 
it.  He  ought  to  have  been  there  long  ago,  and  he  ought  to 
stay  there  the  rest  of  his  life!" 

This  was  the  man  whom  Bertha  charged  with  responsibility 
for  her  first  wrong  step  as  a  girl,  sending  her  first  to  the  Glen- 
wood  (la.)  Home  for  the  Feebleminded.  Later  she  charges 
that  this  man  taught  her  the  fainting  trick,  by  which  she 
faints  in  the  arms  of  a  man  or  woman  wearing  jewelry  or 
carrying  money  and  in  the  confusion  biting  the  stone  from  a 
pin  and  swallowing  it,  or  with  small,  supple  hand  taking  a 
purse  from  a  pocket  or  a  watch  from  its  fob,  perhaps  with 
innocent  eyes  and  dimpled  face  assisting  the  loser  in  the  search 
for  the  missing  valuable. 

Bertha  Says  Gunther  Promised  to  Marry  Her. 

"That  man  Gunther  promised  to  marry  me,"  she  said,  low- 
ering her  voice.  "He  sent  me  out  to  steal  and  when  I  wouldn't 
do  it  he  used  to  beat  me  when  I  came  home.  Do  you  wonder 
I'm  what  I  am?" 

There  was  a  burst  of  what  might  have  been  tears.  Her 
face  was  buried  and  her  figure  shook  with  sobs.  But  in  five 
seconds  the   di.npled   face   appeared  again,   clry  eyed,   and   at 


A  CLEVEB  SHOPLIFTER  379 

a  remark  on  the  moment  she  turned  toward  her  auditors,  wink- 
ing an  eyelid  slyly. 

""Fainting  Bertha"  Lebeeke  has  almost  lost  consecutive  track 
of  the  asylums  and  prisons  in  which  she  has  been  locked. 

From  this  Glenwood  home  for  the  feebleminded  she  was  re- 
leased. She  got  into  trouble  again  and  was  sent  to  the  Clarinda 
State  Hospital  for  the  Insane.  Here,  in  the  words  of  the 
superintendent,  she  was  looked  upon  as  a  ease  of  "moral  im- 
becility, with  some  maniacal  complications."  Here  an  opera- 
tion was  performed,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  the  superintend- 
ont,  she  was  eligible  to  discharge  soon  afterwards  as  improved. 

St.  Bernard's  Asylum  at  Council  Bluffs  cared  for  her  for  a 
time,  but  she  succeeded  in  escaping  from  it  and  was  not  re- 
turned. 

In  Asylum  No.  3  at  Nevada,  Mo.,  in  spite  of  the  close  watch 
kept  upon  her,  "Fainting  Bertha"  escaped  several  times,  but 
was  caught  soon  after  and  returned  to  the  institution.  On 
December  21,  1901,  she  was  discharged  as  not  insane  and  re- 
turned to  Omaha,  where  she  had  lived  for  a  time.  Here  Bertha 
remained  about  two  years,  acting  as  a  maid  of  all  work  in 
households.  Her  experience  in  Chicago  and  Illinois  is  stranger 
than  any  fiction. 

Most  Unruly  Prisoner  in  Jolibt. 

On  a  charge  of  shoplifting  she  was  given  an  indeterminate 
sentence  of  one  to  ten  years  in  the  penitentiary  at  Joliet. 

Eecords  of  Joliet  prison  show  her  to  have  been  the  most  un- 
ruly prisoner  ever  confined  in  that  institution.  Her  conduct 
was  such  that  Prison  Physician  Fletcher  declared  that  she  was 
insane  and  she  was  sent  to  the  asylum  at  Kankakee. 

Twice  she  escaped  from  Kankakee,  once,  she  says,  with  the 
aid  of  an  employee  of  the  institution,  whom  she  refuses  to 
name.  This  first  escape  was  made  within  four  months  of 
her  arrival  at  the  institution;  the  second  after  a  year.  On 
her  return  to  that  institution  for  criminals  her  actions  were 


380  A  CLEVER  SHOPLIFTER 

such  that  the  hospital  authorities  decided  that  she  was  not  in- 
sane and  sent  her  back  to  Joliet  prison. 

On  this  second  imprisonment  "Painting  Bertha"  showed 
what  she  could  do  in  making  herself  impossible  even  in  a 
prison.  Her  cell  was  in  the  north  wing  of  the  building,  over- 
looking the  street.  She  w'ould  appear  in  the  window  wath  her 
clothing  torn  to  ribbons,  shrieking  that  she  was  being  mur- 
dered. According  to  prison  officials,  there  was  no  language  too 
impossible  for  her  glib  tongue.  Her  furies  of  temper  caused 
her  to  heap  unspeakable  abuse  upon  matrons  and  guards  alike. 
Deputy  Warden  Sims,  responsible  for  order  and  discipline,  sa}'^: 
he  has  been  abused  by  her  beyond  belief.  Her  plan  was  to 
sleep  in  daylight  and  make  the  whole  night  hideous  with  her 
screams  and  cries  and  unspeakable  language. 

Penitentiary  Glad  to  Be  Rid  of  Her. 

As  a  last  resort  the  tortured  prison  officials  at  Joliet,  taking 
the  diagnosis  of  Physician  Fletcher,  sent  her  to  the  care  of 
Supt.  Podstata  at  the  Elgin  asylum.  There,  after  consulta- 
tion of  the  asylum  physicians,  it  was  found  that  she  should 
have  been  confined  in  an  asylum  for  the  feebleminded  when 
she  was  younger;  that,  lacking  this  treatment,  she  had  grown 
and  developed  such  destructive  tendencies  that  a  hospital  for 
the  insane  w^as  the  only  haven  for  her. 

But  Bertha  escaped  from  the  asylum,  which  has  for  its  safe- 
guards the  lock  and  the  steel  bar.  Locks  and  bars  are  nothing 
to  "Fainting  Bertha" !  She  was  recaptured  and  returned,  only 
that  she  might  escape  again  on  Christmas  night,  finding  her 
way  to  Peoria,  where  her  escapades  in  going  through  the  iowa 
were  marvels  to  the  Peoria  police.  The  conductor  on  the 
Peoria  train  from  whom  she  took  $30  has  not  claimed  his 
money.  But  half  a  dozen  stores  in  which  she  operated  and  the 
salesman  from  whose  samples  in  the  Fey  Hotel  she  took  hun- 
dreds of  dollars  worth  of  silks,  jewelry,  clothing  and  per- 
fumes got  back  some  of  the  plunder,  which  detectives  found 
piled  around  her  in  a  chair  car  in  an  Omaha  train. 


A  CliEVER  SHOPLIFTER  381 

The  Peoria  police  locked  her  up,  and  while  the  charges 
i-ested  Dr.  Zeller,  of  the  asylum  for  the  incurable  insane  at 
South  Bartonville,  asked  of  Dr.  Podstata  and  the  penitentiary 
authorities  tlie  custody  of  ''Fainting  Bertha."  Warden  Murphy 
at  Joliet  was  delighted  at  the  idea.  Supt.  Podstata  at  Elgin 
was  as  greatly  pleased.  Dr.  Zeller  at  South  Bartonville  Asylum 
for  the  Incurable  Insane,  receiving  the  young  woman,  was 
conscious  of  having  a  unique  addition  to  the  1,929  other  in- 
mates of  his  barless  cottages  of  detention.  In  the  history  of 
the  South  Bartonville  asylum  only  one  female  inmate  has 
escaped,  and  she  was  found  dead  soon  afterwards  in  a  ravine 
into  which  she  had  fallen. 

Pale  Blue  Color  Scheme  of  Bertha's  Ward. 

"If  Bertha  escapes  here  it  will  be  *the  test  of  vigilance  as 
opposed  to  locks  and  steel  bars,"  is  the  summing  up  of  the 
situation  by  Dr.  Zeller.  Bertha  is  not  wholly  satisfied  where 
she  is.  The  food  is  not  all  she  desires.  She  refers  to  her 
ward  and  its  environment  as  "the  dump."  Yet  her  particular 
"dump"  is  decorated  in  pale  blue — part  of  the  color  scheme  of 
the  asylum  management, — the  color  scheme  of  her  ward  being 
adapted  to  her  particular  temperamental  degree  of  insanity. 
But  while  Bertha  has  been  gnawing  diamonds  from  tie  pins, 
one  of  her  fraternity  in  ward  classification  has  a  record  of 
gnawing  the  woodwork  from  at  least  a  dozen  other  insane 
wards  in  as  many  institutions  for  the  insane. 

How  subtly  conscious  of  her  position  "Fainting  Bertha"  may 
be  on  occasion  was  demonstrated  the  other  day  when  it  was 
arranged  with  Dr.  Zeller  that  she  shoukl  go  with  two  nurses 
and  the  staff  member  in  Peoria  in  order  that  her  picture 
might  be  taken  in  a  local  gallery. 

Delighted  at  Chance  op  Going  to  Town. 
With  $9  to  her  credit  in  the  asylum's  system  of  personal 
accounts,   Bertha   wanted   some   of  this   sum   for   "shopping," 
but  when  it  was  refused  she  accepted  the  situation  without  par- 


282  A  CLEVER  SHOPLIFTER 

ticular  protest.  The  idea  of  going  uptown,  five  miles  from 
South  Bartonville,  was  delightful.  Her  spirits  rose  high  at 
the  idea,  and  when  her  nurses  had  brought  her  over  to  the  ad- 
ministration building  she  dropped  into  the  office  chair  occu- 
pied by  Dr.  Zeller,  and  in  mock  seriousness  turned  to  the  little 
group,  asking  what  she  could  do  for  them. 

On  the  Pekin  and  Peoria  electric  road  she  was  banked  in 
next  the  window  by  her  escorts,  and  was  the  pink  of  propriety 
until  Peoria  was  reached,  save  as  occasionally  she  turned  back- 
ward toward  the  conductor  and  smiled.  And  invariably  the 
conductor  smiled  in  return ! 

"Honey"  was  her  designation  of  Nurse  Quick.  "I'm  a  per- 
fect lady,  ain't  I,  Honey  ?''  she  repeated  a  score  of  times  on  the 
trip.  In  the  photographer's  gallery  the  snap  of  the  camera 
shutter  brought  a  start  from  the  object  of  the  lens,  and  the 
first  picture  in  six  years,  save  as  the  police  authority  of  the 
state  had  insisted  that  she  pose  for  it. 

But  after  the  ordeal  at  the  photographer's  Bertha  wanted 
most  of  all  a  "square  meal."  Miss  Quick  knew  of  a  restaurant 
where  quiet  prevailed  and  where  there  would  be  little  incen- 
tive to  Bertha  to  faint,  and  there  the  little  party  adjourned 
for  the  "square  meal."  Pie — apple  or  mince — was  the  dessert. 
Took  Pie  and  Candy  Back  "Home." 

"You  won't  mind,  honey,  if  I  take  a  pie  home,  will  you?"" 

Miss  Quick  didn't  mind  at  all.  And  not  minding  the  pie. 
Miss  Bertha  promptly  buttered  four  rolls  liberally  and  in- 
cluded in  the  package  a  bunch  of  celery  which  had  been  left 
over  after  she  had  passed  it  around  insistently,  time  and  again. 
At  the  candy  counter  just  outside  the  dining  room  Bertha 
balked  amiably. 

"I  don't  like  to  presume  on  your  good  nature,  but  I  know 
you  won't  object  to  a  small  box  of  candy?"  she  purred. 

The  nurse  didn't  object  to  the  25-cent  box;  which  was  an 
inspiration  to  "Fainting  Bertha." 

"But  don't  vou  think  this  is  ever  so  much  nicer?" 


A  CLEVEE  SHOPLIFTER  283 

The  nurse  had  to  admit  that  it  was.  It  was  a  half-dollar 
box  of  mixed  candies  ! 

"But  I'm  afraid  it  looks  like  imposing  on  your  good  nature 
just  a  little?"  she  smiled,  as  the  cashier  proceeded  to  wrap  it 
up.  "And  you  don't  mind,  honey  ?"  to  Miss  Quick,  who  smiled 
indulgently,  and  with  the  pie,  rolls,  and  celery  in  one  hand 
and  the  box  of  candy  in  the  other.  Bertha  started  back  to  the 
Asylum  for  the  Incurable  Insane  at  South  Bartonville,  five 
miles  away. 

Detention  Record  of  "Fainting  Bertha." 

Asylum  for  the  Feeble  Minded,  Glenwood,  la.    Discharged. 

Insane  asylum,  Glenwood,  la.    Discharged. 

Insane  asylum,  Nevada,  Mo.  Dicharged  after  several  es- 
capes. 

St.  Bernard's  asylum.  Council  Bluffs,  la.    Discharged. 

Indeterminate  sentence  at  Joliet  penitentiary. 

Kankakee,  111.,  Asylum  for  the  Insane.     Escaped. 

Kankakee,  111.,  Asylum  for  the  Insane.     Escaped. 

Kankakee,  111.,  Asylum  for  the  Insane.  Returned  to  Joliet 
penitentiary. 

Elgin,  111.,  Asylum  for  the  Insane.    Escaped. 

Elgin,  111.,  Asylum  for  the  Insane.    Escaped. 

Present  address.  Asylum  for  the  Incurable  Insane,  South 
Bartonville,  111. 

But  even  the  genial  Dr.  Zeller  and  his  barless  windows  and 
lockless  prison  proved  in  time  to  be  enervating  to  such  a  rest- 
less being  as  "Fainting  Bertha."  So,  during  June,  1908,  she 
made  no  less  than  three  attempts  to  escape.  She  was,  how- 
ever, apprehended  in  each  case  before  she  reached  Peoria,  and 
returned  to  the  asylum.  The  authorities  declare  that  she  was 
really  playing  for  theatrical  effect  rather  than  from  any  de- 
sire to  get  away  from  Bartonville.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  fact 
remains  that  if  she  desires  to  get  out  of  Bartonville  she  prob- 
ably will,  as  she  is  the  most  resourceful  criminal  of  her  sex 
known  to  the  authorities. 


FRONT. 


A  good  front  is  a  distinct  asset.  A  good  front  is  made  up 
of  neat,  clean  clothes,  on  a  clean  body,  the  whole  housing  a 
clean  mind.  A  man  with  clean  clothes  on  a  dirty  body,  or  dirty 
clothes  on  a  clean  body,  is  not  wanted  anywhere  in  the  busi- 
ness world;  and  there  is  no  place  in  the  heavens  above  or  the 
earth  beneath,  or  the  waters  under  the  earth,  that  has  room 
for  the  man  with  the  dirty  mind. 

But  with  the  clean  mind  inside  the  clean  body,  and  neat, 
simple,  clean  clothes  on  the  outside  of  it,  the  young  man  has 
all  the  essentials  of  a  good  front.  Anything  more  is  super- 
fluous and  tends  to  make  him  ridiculous.  Simplicity  is  the 
keynote. 

This  moralizing  on  the  value  of  front  is  suggested  by  observa- 
tions and  comparisons  of  the  habits  of  certain  Chicago  million- 
aires, and  the  ways  of  some  of  their  cheap  clerks,  the  latter 
having  exaggerated  ideas  of  putting  up  a  false  appearance  of 
prosperity. 

These  comparisons  were  so  striking  that  they  attracted  the 
attention  of  Detective  Clifton  E.  Wooldridge,  and  during  the 
course  of  his  regular  work  he  found  time  to  tabulate  a  little, 
with  startling  results. 

The  detective  found  that  there  are  in  Chicago  many  young 
men  living  on  very  meager  salaries,  who  have  such  exaggerated 
notions  of  the  value  of  a  prosperous  appearance  that  they  over- 
shoot the  mark,  and  frequently,  as  result  of  trying,  as  they 
think,  to  "look  like  a  millionaire,"  they  often  succeed  in  look- 
ing very  much  like  the  famous  animal  with  very  long  ears  and  a 
loiul  voice  which  one  spoke  to  the  prophet  Baalam. 


FRONT 


285 


"It  is  easy  to  distinguish  the  real  millionaire,"  said  the  great 
detective,  in  discussing  this  subject.  "If  he  wants  to  get  any- 
where in  a  great  city  and  his  automobile  happens  to  be  engaged, 
he  takes  the  same  means  of  getting  there  as  does  the  toiler  in 
the  mills  or  factoiy;  he  walks,  or  he  rubs  elbows  on  the  street 
cars  with  the  laboring  men,  many  of  whom  never  know  that 
they  are  brushing  against  the  owner  of  millions," 


386  FRONT 

Stanley  Field's  Buggy. 

"Stanley  Field  runs  around  town  in  a  crazy  old  country 
buggy,  Just  like  a  farmer.  He  took  this  method  of  going  about 
when  the  great  teamsters'  strike  was  on,  and  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Merchants'  committee. 

"But  I  will  bet  you  a  good  cigar  that  there  are  any  num- 
ber of  little  snippety  ten-dollar  clerks  in  the  great  establish- 
ment of  which  Stanley  Field  is  the  head,  who  would  feel  them- 
selves eternally  disgraced  if  they  were  seen  in  that  buggy. 

"Not  for  little  mister-ten-dollar  clerk !  No,  sir.  He  must 
go  out  and  spend  three  dollars  for  a  cab  if  he  wants  to  get 
down  town  to  a  theatre.  It  is  just  this  silly  pride  that  makes 
forgers  and  embezzlers. 

"My  advice  to  young  men  would  be,  'Keep  your  mind  clean, 
your  body  clean  and  your  clothes  neat  and  clean.  Never  mind 
about  fancy  show.  Men  will  respect  you  more  if  you  follow 
this  advice  than  they  will  if  you  squander  money  foolishly  in 
the  effort  to  put  up  a  false  front  which  deceives  no  one.' " 

Out  of  hundreds  of  cases  which  Wooldridge  has  run  down, 
where  embezzlement,  forgery  and  theft,  even  of  the  pettiest 
sort,  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  crime,  the  great  detective  declares 
that  fully  half  of  the  cases  had  their  origin  in  this  silly  attempt 
to  appear  something  more  than  the  real  thing.  Silly  pride  is  a 
teacher  of  crime,  and  a  sure  school  mistress  she  is. 

And  the  absurdity,  the  bally  foolishness  of  it  all,  is  that 
these  pitiful  attempts  deceive  no  one.  Every  one  knows  solidity 
when  they  see  it,  just  as  they  know  sham  when  they  see  it.  A 
self-respecting  young  man  cannot  afford  to  make  of  himself  a 
sham,  even  by  taking  a  cab  when  the  millionaires  walk  or  take 
the  street  car. 

Fake  Pride  Leads  to  Crime. 
On  the  other  hand,  many  young  men  have  plunged  into  a 
life  of  crime  through  over-spending  their  salaries,  in  the  effort 
to  convince  every  one  who  looked  at  them  that  they  were  on  the 


FRONT  ^87 

idirectorate  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company.  Where  the  million- 
aire walks  these  silly  young  jackasses  take  a  cab,  and  pay  half 
a  day's  salary  in  order  to  ride  two  or  three  blocks. 

^'I  have  seen  John  J.  Mitchell,  the  president  of  the  Illinois 
Trust  and  Savings  Bank,  and  one  of  our  foremost  financiers, 
walk  from  the  Northwestern  station  to  the  bank  building,  while 
right  behind  him  a  young  donkey,  who  was  working  for  $25  a 
week  in  that  very  bank,  would  pay  a  cabby  a  dollar  to  drive  him 
the  seven  short  blocks  from  that  same  station  to  the  bank. 

"It  is  just  such  young  pinheads  as  that  who  afterwards  turn 
Out  to  be  our  embezzlers,  forgers  and  financial  criminals." 

The  man  who  has  made  a  name  which  is  known  in  every 
corner  of  the  United  States  as  an  authority  on  all  kinds  of 
frauds,  snorted  his  indignation  as  he  thought  of  the  silly  bank 
clerk.     Then  he  continued: 

"Does  anybody  ever  see  Arthur  Meeker  take  a  cab  to  ride  a 
few  blocks?  Not  on  your  life.  He  walks.  So  does  Cyrus  Mc- 
Cormiek,  Harold  McCormick,  R.  Hall  McCormick,  Frank  Low- 
den,  and  any  number  of  the  other  men  whose  names  stand  at  the 
top  of  Chicago  finance.  I  see  Frank  Lowden  on  the  Indiana 
avenue  cars,  the  line  I  take  myself,  time  after  time.  He  is  one 
of  the  most  democratic  of  men. 


LAST  CHANCE  GONE. 


IDENTIFICATION   BUREAU   AIDED   BY   NATURE. 

The  Criminal  and  the  Crooked  Members  of  the  Human  Race 

Have    a    New   and    Dangerous    Enemy   in    the 

Finger  Print  Method  of  Identification. 

The  last  hope  cf  the  enemies  of  society,  the  habitual  criminals, 
is  gone.  The  Bertillon  system  sounded  the  death  knell  of  tlie 
criminal  so  far  as  capture  was  concerned.  The  finger  print 
system,  as  first  set  forth  by  Sir  Francis  Galton  and  elaborated 
by  Sir  Edward  Henry,  has  made  possible  the  absolute  identi- 
fication after  capture. 

One  of  the  first  men  to  see  the  tremendous  possibilities  of 
the  finger  print  system,  as  applied  to  the  identification  of  sus- 
pects, Avas  Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  of  Chicago.  Through 
his  efforts  and  that  of  others  equally  interested  in  the  exact 
identification  of  criminals,  the  Chicago  Police  Department  es- 
tablished the  finger  print  method  of  identification  in  1905,  as 
a  suppleinent  to  the  Bertillon  system  which  was  established  in 
1887. 

The  Bertillon  system  catches  the  suspect.  The  finger  print 
system  makes  sure  that  he  is  the  criminal.  The  Bertillon  system, 
while  a  splendid  thing  for  catching  the  thief,  still  left  some 
loop-holes  which  needed  strongthoning.  This  was  supplied  by 
the  finger  print  system.  I.ikc  the  man  and  woman  referred  to 
in  Longfellow's  Hiawatha  it  is  a  case  of  "useless  each  without 
the  other."  When  the  two  systems  are  worked  together  there 
is  absolutely  no  possible  escape  for  the  apprehended  suspect. 

The  Chicago  Police  Bureau  of  Identification  is  the  second 
largest  in  the  world,  and  contains  over  70,000  pictures. 

By  combining  the  Bertillon  measurements  with  the  finger- 
print system  the  police  department  has  woven  a  network  of 


LAST  OHANOE  GONE 


389 


Measurement    of    the    Stretch    and    the    Left    Foot. 
The    Bertillon    System    of    Identification    by    Measurement. 


290 


LAST  CHANCE  GONE 


f .  P.  Noll 


.rO^ 


'<Hr- 


CLASSIFICATION- 


/     T 


I   n 


R.ICHT     HAMO 


.......  ^^t^oZZ 


¥^ 


tmcco  'J^^dL/    /    .»0/? 


identification  around  tlie  criminal  which  makes  it  practically 
an  impossibility  for  him  ever  to  disguise  himself  should  he  at 
any  future  time  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  officials  of  the  law. 
The  finger  print  method  was  discovered  about  forty  years 
ago  by  Sir  William  Herschell,  then  an  English  official  in  India. 
Sir  Francis  Galton,  a  Fellow  of  the  Eoyal  Society,  was  the 
first  to  systematize  it,  and  the  first  to  establish  the  fact  that 
the  papillary  ridges  of  the  fingers  did  not  change  through  life. 
This  was  nearly  twenty  years  ago.  Sir  Francis  Galton  made 
the  calculation  that  the  chance  of  any  two  sets  of  finger  prints 
being  the  same  is  one  in  16,400,000,000,  and  as  an  article  from 


LAST  CHANCE  GONE  291 

which  the  writer  quotes  states,  "there  are  only  1,600,000,000 
people  in  the  world,"  its  population  would  have  to  be  increased 
ten  times  before  two  people  were  identical  and  means  that  a 
finger  print  as  a  mark  of  identification  is  practically  infallible. 

Perfected  in  London. 

Sir  Edward  Henry,  Chief  Police  Commissioner,  London, 
England,  is  the  man  who  perfected  the  system,  as  it  is  now 
used,  classifying  finger  prints  by  signs  and  numerals,  so  that 
it  is  now  considered  perfect. 

The  finger  prints  of  women  are  the  same  as  men,  except  in 
size,  while  the  prints  of  negroes  are  the  clearest  and  strongest, 
owing  to  the  thickness  of  skin  and  moisture  from  perspiration, 
and  it  has  not  yet  been  demonstrated  that  finger  prints  are  any 
indication  of  character. 

While  quite  a  large  number  of  cities  and  penal  institutions 
in  the  United  States  have  adopted  and  are  now  using  the  Ber- 
tillon  system  of  criminal  identification,  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  it  has  not  been  more  generally  adopted  by  all  cities  of  a 
population  not  less  than  5,000,  and  by  all  penitentiaries,  re- 
formatories and  county  jails.  Universally  applied  under  com- 
petent instructors,  nearly  every  professional  criminal  would, 
in  a  few  years,  be  recorded,  so  that  it  would  only  become  neces- 
Bary  to  keep  up  with  the  new  additions  to  the  ranks  of  the 
criminal  classes. 

It  has  been  thoroughly  established  that  the  papillary  ridges 
of  fingers  never  change  during  life.  From  infancy  to  senility 
and  until  long  after  death  no  change  ensues  in  the  fingers. 
Though  partially  destroyed  by  injury,  the  original  lines  retain 
their  pristine  characteristics  when  healed. 

This  is  nature's  method  of  identification,  and  no  record  can 
be  found  of  the  digits  of  two  persons  having  exactly  the  same 
characteristics.  Numerous  instances  could  be  cited  of  t^vins 
and  triplets  whose  finger  prints  afforded  the  only  means  of  dis- 
tinguishing one  from  the  other. 


J92 


LAST  CHAXCE  GONE 

MAGNIFIED  FINGER  PRINT 


The  above  is  an  onlarped  print  of  a  riglit  index  finser.  which  we 
classify  as  an  Ulnar  Loop.  Loops  on  different  fingerf;  are  not  all  alike, 
but  vary  in  many  important  oliaracteristios,  so  it  is  a  very  easy 
mattPT   to   distinguish    one   from    tinollier. 


LAST  I'HAXCE  GONE 


•^93 


FINGER  PRINT  OUTFIT 


INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  TAKING  FINOER  PRINTS, 

Instruments  rcqnired :  A  piece  of  tin,  ordinary  printer's  ink, 
and  a.  10-eent  rubber  roller  are  all  the  tools  necessary  for  get- 
ting- the  impression.  It  requires  no  special  training  to  take 
finger  impression,  and  any  rural  constable  can,  with  ten  min- 
utes' practice,  take  a  set  of  good  finger  prints  in  five  minutes. 
After  having  a  week's  practice  he  could  take  them  in  three 
minutes. 

ScoTT.AXD  Yard   Method. 

At  Scotland  Yard  a  metallic  lirace  is  in  use  for  the  purpose 
of  forcing  refractory  prisoners  to  leave  correct  impressions  upon 
liie  records.  One  application  of  this  brace  is  persuasive  enough 
to  cause  the  culprit  to  hasten  to  comply  with  a  request  for  his 
signature. 

A  small  slab  stone  is  covered  with  ink,  which  is  distributed 
witli  a  sprayer,  and  the  prisoner  is  compelled  to  place  hia 
fingers  in  the  ink  and  then  firmly  implant  them  upon  paper. 

On  a  regular  prescribed  form  impressions  are  taken  so  that 
the  flexure  of  the  last  joint  shall  be  at  a  given  point  on  the 
record. 


2U  LA«T  CHANCE  GONE 

The  digits  are  taken  singly  and  then  an  imprint  is  made  of 
all  of  them  simultaneously. 

When  the  prisoner  has  finished  imprinting  the  record  he  is 
called  upon  for  his  signature,  and  immediately  underneath  the 
name,  as  written  by  himself,  an  imprint  is  left  of  the  right  fore- 
finger. 

For  the  edification  of  American  police,  !Mr.  Ferrier  demon- 
strates that  upon  a  sheet  of  paper  you  may  sprinkle  some  char- 
coal dust  and  press  it  upon  the  paper  with  your  thumb  and  then 
blow  the  dust  of!  and  the  imprint  of  tlie  digit  will  remain. 

Most  Positive  Identificatiox. 

But  this  thumb  print  possibility  in  commercial  papers  has 
its  greatest  future  in  the  positive  identification  which  either 
thumb  or  finger  print  carries  with  it.  Criminologists  all  over 
the  world  have  satisfied  themselves  of  the  absolute  accuracy  of 
the  finger  print  indentification.  It  would  be  hard  to  figure  just 
how  many  Constantines  were  arrested  or  kept  under  surveillance 
following  the  horrible  murder  in  Chicago,  the  suspicions  aroused 
by  personal  resemblances  to  the  criminal's  photograph  and 
especially  by  the  prominent  gold  tooth  of  the  man.  But  in  a 
criminal's  finger  print  the  merest  novice  anywhere  in  the  world 
may  take  an  ink  impression  of  the  fingers  of  the  suspected 
criminal,  and  if  these  prints  should  be  in  the  bureau  of  identi- 
fication at  Scotland  Yard,  with  its  100,000  records  of  in- 
dividuals, the  man  would  be  identified  positively  within  half  an 
hour— identified  not  only  by  the  experts  of  the  bureau,  but  an 
ordinary  citizen  would  be  an  authority  in  attesting  the  proof. 

This  is  a  suggestion  of  the  absolute  accuracy  of  identifica- 
tions on  commercial  paper.  At  the  present  time  traveling 
salesmen  who  spend  much  money  and  who  wish  to  carry  as 
little  as  possible  of  cash  with  them,  have  an  organized  system 
by  which  their  bankable  paper  may  be  cashed  at  hotels  and 
business  houses  over  the  country. 


LAST  CHANCE  GONE  295 

Applied  to  Immigrants, 

Major  E.  W.  McClaughry,  warden  of  the  federal  prison  at 
Leavenworth,  sees  in  the  finger  print  system  a  possibility  which 
might  be  taken  cognizance  of  by  the  government  at  Ellis 
Lsland.  With  the  millions  of  immigrants  who  have  come  and 
who  still  are  to  come  to  these  shores,  the  finger  print  require- 
ment would  simplify  many  of  the  tangles  of  many  kinds  which 
result  from  this  inrush  of  foreign  population. 

Aside  from  the  fact  that  many  of  this  country's  criminals 
are  foreign  born,  it  remains  that  civil  identifications  of  such 
people  are  matters  of  great  moment.  Titles  and  estates  have 
hung  in.  the  balance  of  incomplete  identifications  of  persons  who 
are  claimants  in  the  United  States.  Fifty  years  after  a  finger 
print  is  registered  that  same  finger,  or  group  of  fingers,  will 
prove  the  personality  of  the  one  registering.  In  case  of  acci- 
dents of  many  kinds  one  hand  or  the  other  is  most  likely  to 
escape  mutilation,  and  a  post-mortem  imprint  of  the  fingers 
still  is  proof  of  identity. 

The  finger  print  system  is  being  taken  up  more  rapidly  than 
was  the  Bertillon,  largely  owing  to  the  fact  that  police  depart- 
ments, recognizing  that  a  scientific  system  gives  far  greater  re- 
sults and  can  in  no  way  be  compared  with  the  old  method  of 
describing  criminals,  by  color,  age,  height,  weight,  eyes,  hair, 
etc.,  are  more  willing  than  formerly  to  intelligently  investigate 
and  test  new  methods. 

Lender  the  Bertillon  system  it  is  contended  that  the  bones  of 
the  human  anatomy  stop  growing  after  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years.  In  consequence  measurements  taken  of  juvenile  of- 
fenders under  that  age  are  practically  of  little  use,  as  they 
show  too  wide  a  variance  with  measurements  taken  in  after 
3'ears,  and  are  not  a  certain  source  of  identification. 

The  identification  from  imprint  taken  from  the  finger  tips 
of  both  hands  can  be  recorded  as  soon  as  the  child  is  born,  and 
no  matter  at  what  time  of  life  a  record  is  again  taken  of  the 
subject,   absolute  identification   can  bo   had,   as   the  papillary 


296  LAST  CHANCE  GOXE 

ridges  of  the  palmer  surface  of  the  finger  tips  present  the  same 
formation  until  death,  and  even  though  some  of  the  fingers 
become  mutilated,  amputated  or  lost,  sufficient  prints  would 
remain  on  the  other  fingers  to  produce  identification. 

While  it  is  claimed  that  the  finger  print  system  is  sufficient 
unto  itself  for  all  identification,  after  working  each  system  side 
by  side  for  a  number  of  }ears,  I  believe  that  both  systems  should 
be  installed  in  all  cities,  penitentiaries,  etc.,  especially  as  they 
both  Avill  be  given  an  impartial  and  thorough  test  here,  with 
the  result  that  it  will  be  the  survival  of  both,  or  of  the  fittest. 

Keep  Bad  Men  Out  of  Service. 

In  these  government  dei')artments  it  is  expected  that  the 
finger  print  records  will  serve  to  keep  undesirable  people  out 
of  the  service,  as  well  as  to  afford  a  complete  method  of  identi- 
fying every  member,  or  past  member,  in  years  to  come. 

Both  branches  of  the  War  Department,  the  army  and  nav}^ 
had  first  installed  the  Bertillon  system,  and  Avithin  the  last 
year  the  finger  print  system,  thereby  recognizing  both,  but  ap- 
parently giving  t:.e  finger  print  system  the  preference;  owing 
to  the  many  Avays  it  can  be  applied  in  the  service,  and  espe- 
cially as  to  recording  all  enlisted  men  and  to  the  identification 
of  those  who  might  be  maimed  or  killed  in  battle,  AA'hose  iden- 
tity might  be  sought  afterward,  or  to  identify  deserters :  or  if 
a  soldier  or  sailor  has  lot  his  honorable  discharge  paper,  he  can 
go  to  any  enlisting  office,  have  his  finger  prints  taken,  his  iden- 
tity established,  and  new  papers  issued,  thereby  avoiding  rod 
tape  or  having  about  one  dozen  affida^ats  from  different  people 
to  substantiate  his  claim. 

Not  only  as  a  means  of  detecting  and  identifying  criminnN 
may  the  finger  print  be  used,  but  its  usefulness  in  various  way^ 
is  easily  demonstrated. 

It  is  clearly  within  the  range  of  possibility  thai  the  traveler 
a  few  years  hence  may  be  called  upon  to  imprint  an  identifying' 
finger  mark  upon  his  letter  of  credit  or  certified  cheek. 


LAIST  CHA^sCE  GO^K  2'r, 


r^^/^::^:^^^A'^MK  J€i^^^..^^ 


-^FimstKoiosm.  iBank  or  €hi 

PAYTOTHE  ORDER  OF 


i^<-<^-€<^-. 


As  a  means  of  preventing*  fraud  or  securing  the  signatures  of 
lliose  who  cannot  write,  the  finger  print  system  is  invaluable,  as 
the  mark  may  be  easily  forged,  but  the  finger's  impress  can  be 
o]ily  made  by  the  proper  party  and  cannot  be  duplicated  by 
others. 

The  thumb  or  finger  tips  will  leave  an  imprint  upon  glass, 
])olished  metal  or  wood,  owing  to  the  moisture  and  natural  oil 
(lozing  from  the  cuticle.  It  is  a  simple  matter  to  procure  such 
imprints  when  wanted,  and  they  can  be  turned  over  to  the  au- 
tliorities  for  identification  of  a  suspect. 

Secure  Prints  of  All  Criminals. 

Tf  peace  officers  throughout  the  country  would  secure  finger 
prints  of  all  criminals  passing  through  their  hands  and  for- 
ward them  to  a  central  bureau  it  would  facilitate  the  apprehen- 
sion and  identification  of  malefactors.  ' 

As  a  preventive  of  repeating  at  elections,  the  finger  print 
identification  would  serve  an  admirable  purpose.  When  an 
elector  registered  he  could  leave  an  imprint  of  his  fingers  upon 
the  registration  book,  and  when  he  went  to  vote  a  glance  at  the 
7'egistration  list  and  comparison  of  the  imprint  made  at  the 
jtolls  would  readily  establish  his  identity  if  the  prints  tallied. 

The  natives  of  India  decline  to  recognize  the  validity  of  any 
document  beneath  the  signature  of  which  is  not   imprinted  a 


298  LAST  CHAXCE  GONE 

reproduction  of  the  whorls  or  loops  of  the  thumb  of  the 
signer,  alleging  that  a  person  might  deny  his  own  signature, 
but  that  the  finger  prints  afford  incontrovertible  evidence,  as 
no  two  people  can  make  the  same  impression  with  their  thumbs 
upon  paper. 

Upon  opening  an  account  with  a  bank  in  India  the  depositor 
leaves  the  impress  of  his  right  thumb  upon  the  roll  of  depos- 
itors and  none  of  his  paper  will  be  honored  unless  checks  are 
thus  imprinted. 

In  the  same  country  pensioners  are  compelled  to  imprint 
their  thumbs  upon  receipts  for  pension  money,  and  thus  ob- 
viate the  likelihood  of  other  persons  drawing  the  stipend  right- 
fully belonging  to  the  veteran. 

The  best  test  of  a  system  is  its  practical  use  and  the  results 
derived,  and  one  of  the  most  important  matters  is  uniformity 
in  all  branches  of  work,  classification,  filing,  size  of  cards,  etc., 
60  that,  as  the  system  becomes  universal,  it  will  be  operated 
on  identical  lines  in  all  countries.  From  my  observation  of 
the  practical  workings  of  the  system,  I  believe  that  at  New 
Scotland  Yard,  London,  to  be  the  best. 

Finger  Print  System  Furnishes  Complete  Identification. 

In  Paris  a  public  house  or  saloon  was  broken  into  one  morn- 
ing, and  it  was  found  that  the  owner  had  been  murdered  and 
that  apparently  there  was  no  clew  to  the  murderer. 

On  arriving  at  the  saloon  they  found  a  table  on  which  drinks 
had  been  served,  and  on  which  were  found  a  number  of  glasses. 
On  close  investigation  finger  prints  were  discovered  on  each. 
Finger  prints  were  also  found  on  a  knife  by  the  side  of  the 
body  and  on  a  decanter.  On  comparison  it  was  found  that  the 
prints  were  made  by  the  same  person.  On  causing  the  arrest 
of  the  different  people  who  had  been  seen  to  visit  the  saloon 
they  were  finger-printed  and  a  comparison  made,  with  the  re- 
sult that  the  murderer  was  arrested  and  a  confession  obtained 
within  ten  days,  followed  by  conviction. 


LAST  CHANCE  CxONE  299 

At  New  Scotland  Yard,  London,  a  little  boy  was  brought 
in  and  two  sets  of  his  finger  prints  taken  and  filed  away  in 
separate  steel  deposit  vaults.  The  boy  was  an  orphan  and  an 
heir  to  a  very  large  fortune  in  Africa.  His  finger  prints  were 
taken  as  a  protection,  so  that  if  anything  happened  to  him,  or 
he  disappeared,  or  he  had  to  prove  his  identity  to  claim  his 
estate,  or  provided  he  died  and  proof  of  the  identity  of  the 
body  was  required,  such  proof  could  be  shown  with  absolute 
certainty. 

An  interesting  case  nearer  home  is  that  of  a  recent  arrest  in 
Chicago  of  a  man  that  the  authorities  were  convinced  was  a 
professional  criminal,  and  from  his  accent  and  other  indica- 
tions they  believed  him  to  be  an  English  professional  crook. 

His  Bertillon  measurements  and  finger  prints  were  taken  at 
the  Bureau  of  Identification  by  Captain  M.  P.  Evans,  superin- 
tendent of  the  bureau,  and  a  copy  of  the  photograph  and  finger 
prints  given  to  Mr.  William  A.  Pinkerton,  of  the  Pinkerton 
National  Detective  Agency. 

Mr.  Pinkerton,  who  is  a  personal  friend  of  Frank  C,  Froest, 
superintendent  of  the  Criminal  Investigation  Department  of 
New  Scotland  Yard,  London,  mailed  the  finger  prints  to  him 
without  any  other  memorandum,  data  or  the  picture,  simply 
making  the  test  on  the  finger  prints.  He  received  a  reply  from 
Inspector  Frank  C.  Froest,  giving  the  name  of  the  criminal, 
and  a  long  record  of  some  fourteen  arrests  and  the  picture,  so 
as  to  authenticate  the  identification,  and  also  a  statement  from 
Superintendent  Froest  that  the  identification  was  made  inside 
of  three  minutes  from  a  collection  of  over  70,000  records. 

The  identification  was  absolutely  correct.  The  prisoner,  on 
being  shown  the  letter,  admitted  his  guilt. 

If  a  clerk  handles  papers  or  letters  on  Kis  employer's  desk, 
it  is  a  very  easy  matter  of  detection.  By  means  of  a  little 
syringe  filled  with  a  powder  blown  on  the  paper,  the  finger 
prints  are  reproduced  with  startling  clearness. 


;;o()  LAST  ('1[AX(.'I';  COXE 

Broken  Glass   Provks  (tUilt. 

Some  pic'fcs  of  broken  glass  had  boen  taken  to  Scotland 
Yard,  four  day?  previous  to  the  A\'ard,  Lock  t^'  Co.  burglary. 
Thoi^c  fragments  of  gla?s  had  been  picked  np  at  the  London 
City  ^iFission,  where  a  burglar  ha^  broken  through  a  window 
and  carried  off  a  clock  and  other  articles.  Xo  one  could  be 
connected  with  the  crime  after  a  most  thorough  detective  hunt. 

The  one  remaining  source  was  a  bit  of  glass  on  which  finger 
prints  had  l)een  noticed.  These  were  photographed  and  com- 
pared with  tlie  finger  prints  of  all  the  recent  records.  Sur- 
prisingly enough,  they  corresponded  exactly  with  those  of  the. 
young  clerk  wlio  had  been  found  stealing  books  from  the  pub- 
lishers' warehouse.  Instead  of  being  a^clerk,  he  was  a  very 
adept  young  burglar.  On  this  new  evidence  the  prisoner  was 
sentenced  to  twelve  months  at  hard  la])or. 

About  a  month  before  this  a  similar  case  occurred  in  London. 
A  man  Avas  arrested  on  Tower  Hill  carrying  a  pair  of  boots 
wrapped  up  in  a  l^rown  paper.  He  said  he  had  been  employed 
to  carry  the  parcel  to  Fenchurch  Street  Station.  Ho  was  held 
on  suspicion.  Later  in  the  day  it  was  discovered  that  the  boots 
liad  been  stolen  from  a  neighboring  store,  and  that  on  the  tran- 
som, which  had  been  broken,  there  was  a  perfect  imprint  of  a 
man's  finger. 

Inspector  Collins,  superintendent  of  the  finger  print  depart- 
ment at  Xew  Scotland  Yard,  examined  the  print  and  found 
it  corresponded  to  the  mark  of  the  suspected  man's  left  fore- 
finger made  on  the  brown  paper  parcel  in  which  the  boots  were 
wrapped.  The  evidence  was  conclusive,  the  man  pleaded 
Lmiltv.  and  was  sentenced  to  nine  months  at  hard  labor. 

About  tlie  same  time  another  interesting  case  occurred  in 
Staffordshire.  England.  There  liad  been  a  wholesale  burglary 
of  a  large  jeweler's  sho]i.  The  perpetrator  had  left  distinct 
finger  marks  on  a  plate  glass  slielf  in  a  window.  These  marks 
were  photographed  and  sent  to  Xew  Scotland  Yard.    They  were 


I. AS'!'  (  IIA.NCK  tloM-;  ;;(M 

identiiied  as  belonging  to  William  Davis,  a  notorious  l^urglar 
who  had  boon  confined  at  Wakefield  prison  in  1901. 

'i'ho  man  -was  hunted  np.  He  was  found  living  near  the 
])lace  of  the  recent  robbery  under  the  name  of  John  McXally. 
He  at  first  denied  the  recent  offense,  but  afterward  made  a 
full  confession.  But  for  these  tell-tale  finger  marks,  he  might 
have  continued  to  ply  his  trade  unsuspected  under  his  new 
name,  in  a  district  where  the  local  police  did  not  know  him. 

In  one  of  the  largo  banks  where  the  finger  print  system 
was  introduced,  they  make  it  a  rule  that  when  a  depositor  can- 
not read  or  write,  he  shall,  in  addition  to  making  his  mark 
in  the  old  way  on  checks  or  documents,  place  the  finger  print 
of  the  thumb  or  inrlox  finger  on  them. 

Important  ix  Will  Contests. 

Finger  prints  are  also  used  in  the  making  of  wills,  so  that 
while  the  signature  of  the  testator  may  be  contested,  it  is  al- 
most impossible  to  contest  the  signature  of  the  fingers,  for  so 
long  as  the  skin  of  the  fingers  of  the  dead  person  can  be  taken 
up,  just  so  long  can  the  finger  print  impression  be  obtained  to 
verify  the  living  imprint. 

.It  is  only  a  question  of  time  before  all  large  transportation 
companies,  like  express  and  railways,  whose  emplo}TS  handle 
packages  of  money  or  other  valuables,  will  be  required  to  place 
their  finger  prints  on  file,  so  that  when  money  or  valuables  are 
missing  the  cover  of  th6  package  will  indicate  who  handled  or 
tampered  with  it. 

How  TO  Detect  a  Forger. 

How  to  detect  a  forger  as  one  of  the  cleverest  of  operating 
ciiminals  has  been  solved  by  the  "thumb  print"  method  of 
identification  now  spreading  through  the  rougues'  galleries  of 
th3  world. 

It  is  quite  as  interesting  as  the  suggestion  that  through  the 
>ame  thumb  print  method  in  commercial  and  banking  houses 


302  LAST  l^HANCE  CtOXK 

the  forger  is  likely  to  become  a  creature  without  occupation  and 
r-hirographical  or  other  means  of  support. 

The  system  is  not  only  a  great  aid  in  preventing  the  for- 
geries of  commercial  brigands,  but  the  easiest  of  all  means 
for  a  person  in  a  strange  city  to  identify  himself  as  the  lawful 
possessor  of  check,  or  note,  or  bank  draft  which  he  may  wish 
to  turn  into  cash  at  a  banker's  window. 

Used  in  Ancient  Times. 

A  thousand  years  ago  the  Chinese  were  using  the  thumb 
print  signatures  in  commercial  business.  Its  practical  adapta- 
tion today  is  explained  at  a  glance  in  the  check  reproduced 
here,  as  it  was  filled  out  by  Mr.  McClaughry  himself.  In  this 
check  the  design  is  that  the  maker  of  the  check,  before  leaving 
home  for  a  distant  city,  shall  draw  the  check  for  the  needed 
sum  and,  in  the  presence  of  the  cashier  of  his  bank,  place  one 
thumb  print  in  ink  somewhere  over  the  amount  of  the  check 
as  written  in  figures.  Thereupon  the  cashier  of  the  bank  will 
accept  the  check  as  certified  by  his  institution.  With  this  paper 
in  his  possession  the  drawer  of  the  check  may  go  from  his  home 
in  New  York  to  San'  Francisco,  stranger  to  every  person  in 
the  city,  but  at  the  window  of  any  bank  in  that  city,  present- 
ing his  certified  check  to  a  teller  who  has  a  reading  glass  at 
his  hand,  the  stranger  may  satisfy  the  most  careful  of  banks 
by  a  mere  imprint  of  his  thumb  somewhere  else  upon  the  face 
of  the  check. 

Had  this  simple  thumb  print  been  used  in  the  Stensland 
bank,  no  handwriting  expert  Avould  have  been  needed  to  es- 
tablish the  genuineness  of  any  note  under  question. 

With  the  ink  thumb  print  of  the  cashier  of  a  bank  placed 
on  a  bank  draft  over  his  signature  and  over  the  written  amount 
of  the  draft,  chemical  papers  and  the  dangers  of  "raising"  or 
counterfeiting  the  draft  would  be  an  impossibility.  The 
thumb  prints  of  the  secretary  of  the  United  States  treasury, 
reproduced  on  the  face  of  greenback,  silver  certificate  and  bank 


LAST  CHANCE  GONE  303 

note  of  any  series,  woiikl  discourage  counterfeiting  as  nothing 
else  ever  has  done. 

Safeguard  on  Seals  of  Letters  and  Money  Packages. 

As  an  aid  in  the  transmission  of  sealed  packages,  the  'thumb 
print  is  invaluable.  The  print  will  determine  absolutely 
wliothcr  the  wax  has  been  broken  in  transit,  and  it  will  also 
establish  the  identity  of  tlie  person  putting  on  the  seal. 

Packages  so  protected  have  been  "left  Ijy  train  rol)l)cr.-  whert' 
all  other  packages  in  the  safe  were  taken.  The  thumb  print 
was  t(30  suggestive  of  danger  to  make  tampering  with  such 
packages  safe. 

In  the  ordinary  usage  of  tlie  thunil^  print  on  bankable  paper, 
the  city  bank  having  its  country  correspondents  everywhere, 
often  is  called  upon  to  cash  a  draft  drawn  by  the  country  bank 
in  favor  of  that  liank's  customer,  Avho  may  be  a  stranger  in 
the  city.  The  city  bank  desires  to  accommodate  the  countiy 
correspondent  as  a  first  proposition. 

The  unidentified  bearer  of  the  draft  in  the  city,  may  have  no 
acquaintance  able  to  identify  him.  If  he  presents  the  draft  at 
the  window  of  the  big  bank,  hoping  to  satisfy  the  institution 
and  is  turned  away,  he  feels  hurt.  By  the  thumb  print  method 
he  might  have  his  money  in  a  moment. 

Identifying  Strangers. 

In  the  first  place,  even  the  signature  of  the  cashier  of  the 
country  bank  will  be  enough  to  satisfy  its  coiTespondent  in 
the  city  of  the  genuineness  of  the  draft.  Before  the  country 
purchaser  of  the  draft  has  left  the  bank  issuing  the  paper  he 
will  be  required  to  make  the  ink  thumb  print  in  a  space  for 
that  purpose.  Without  this  imprint  the  draft  will  have  no 
value.  If  the  system  should  be  in  use,  the  cashier  signing 
the  draft  will  not  affix  his  signature  to  the  paper  until  this 
imprint  has  been  made  in  his  presence. 

Then,  with  his  attested  finger  print  on  the  face  of  the  draft 


304  LAST  CHANCE  GONE 

the  stranger  in  the  city  may  go  to  the  city  banlv,  appearing  at 
the  window  of  the  newest  teller,  if  need  be.  This  teller  Avill 
1iave  at  hand  his  ink  pad,  faced  with  a  sheet  of  smooth  tin.  Ho 
never  may  have  seen  the  customer  before.  He  never  may  see 
]rim  again.  But  under  the  magnifying  influences  of  an  ordi- 
nary reading  glass  he  may  know,  past  the  possibility  of  doubt, 
that  in  the  hands  of  the  proper  person  named  in  the  draft,  the 
inijirint  which  is  made  before  him  has  been  made  by  the  first 
purchaser  of  the  draft. 

Signing  Bonds  and  Stocks. 

In  the  more  important  and  complicated  transactions  in  bank 
paper  one  bank  may  forward  from  the  bank  itself  the  finger 
print  proofs  of  identity.  The  whole  field  of  such  necessities 
is  open  to  adapted  uses  of  the  method.  Notes  given  by  one 
bank  to  another  in  high  figures  may  be  protected  in  every  way 
by  these  imprints.  Stock  issues  and  institution  bonds  would 
be  worthy  of  the  thumb  print  precautions,  as  would  be  every 
other  form  of  i)aper  which  might  tempt  either  the  forger  or 
the  counterfeiter.  In  any  case,  where  the  authenticity  of  ilie 
paper  might  be  questioned  the  finger  print  would  serve  as  ab- 
solute guarantee.  In  stenographic  correspondence,  where  there 
might  be  inducements  to  write  unauthorized  letters  on  the  pari 
of  some  person  with  wrong  intent,  the  imprint  of  finger  or 
thumb  would  make  the  pQssibility  of  fraud  too  remote  for 
fears.  For,  in  addition  to  the  security  of  signatures  in  real 
documents,  the  danger  in  attempting  frauds  of  this  kind  is  in- 
creased. 

The  beauty  of  the  finger  print  system  is  that  there  is 
absolutely  no  chance  for  error.  The  finger  prints  of  the  child 
of  eighteen  months  will  be  the  same  as  the  finger  prints  of  the 
man  of  eighty.  No  laceration,  Avound,  or  mutilation  can 
disturb  the  essentials  of  the  outline  of  the  finger  print.  The  onlv 
escape  for  the  criminal  is  to  cut  off  all  of  his  fingers,  and 
even  then  the  toe  prints  Avonld  be  as  effectivo. 


LAST  CHANCE  GONE 


305 


As-  to  the  physical  necessities  in  regii^tering  finger  prints, 
I  hey  are  simple  and  inexpensive.  A  block  of  -wood  faced  with 
s-mooth  tin  or  zinc  the  size  of  an  octavo  volume,  a  small  ink 
roller,  and  a  tube  of  black  ink  are  all  that  is  required.  For 
removing  the  ink  on  the  thumb  or  finger  a  towel  and  alcohol 
cleanser  are  sufficient.  A  tip  impression  or  a  "rolled"  finger 
signature  may  be  used.  Only  a  few  seconds  are  required  for 
the  operation. 

Objects  to  Having  Finger  Impressions  Recorded. 

In  one  of  our  prisons  recently,  a  man  who  had  Just  been 
sentenced  was  brought  up,  and  while  he  made  no  opposition 
to  being  measured  by  the  Bertillon  system,  he  objected  strongly 
to  having  his  finger  impressions  recorded.  This  caused  the 
identification  expert  to  be  suspicious,  and  he  submitted  a  dupli- 
cate record  to  the  Scotland  T'ard  police,  in  London,  with  the 
result  that  the  man  was  at  once  identified  as  a  murderer  who 


The  Bertillon  System  of  Identification 


I 
•^    - 


Instruments  used  in   the  measurement   of   criminals   by   tlie   Bertil 
Ion   system  of  measurements.  ' 


Sm  LAST  CHANCE  GONE 

had  escaped  from  a  prison  in  England,  and  was  taken  back 
there.  When  confronted  with  the  English  record,  the  convict 
at  once  admitted  his  identity. 

An  express  company  lost  a  large  sum  of  money  which  was 
being  sent  from  one  point  to  another  in  a  sealed  package. 
During  transmission  the  seals  were  broken,  the  money  ab- 
stracted and  the  package  resealed  with  wax.  At  first  the  ex- 
press company  Avere  absolutely  unable  to  locate  the  thief,  but 
later  on  it  was  discovered  that  in  resealing  the  package,  the 
thief  had  wet  his  finger  and  pressed  it  on  the  warm  wax. 
leaving  a  distinct  imprint.  The  finger  impressions  of  all  the 
agents  through  whose  hands  the  package  passed,  were  taken, 
with  the  result  that  the  thief  was  easily  identified,  a  confes- 
sion obtained  and  the  money  recovered. 

A  jewelry  store  was'  entered  and  valuable  diamonds  that 
were  on  display  on  glass  trays  in  the  windows  were  stolen.  In 
doing  this  the  thieves  left  the  imprints  of  their  fingers  on  the 
glass.  An  expert,  on  making  investigation  with  a  powerful 
magnifier,  discovered  the  imprints  and  by  a  careful  photo- 
graphic process  was  able  to  reproduce  them  on  paper.  A  re- 
search being  made  among  a  collection  of  20,000  finger-print 
records  revealed  the  fact  that  the  prints  left  on  the  glass  tray 
were  those  of  a  well-known  professional  burglar,  whose  record 
liad  been  taken  some  two  years  previously,  while  undergoing 
sentence  in  State  prison.  As  a  result  the  man  was  arrested 
and,  through  him,  his  partner  in  the  crime,  resulting  in  a 
conviction  and  the  recovery  of  most  of  the  goods. 

The  London  police  in  investigating  a  burglary  discovered 
in  the  pantry  of  a  house  a  partly  empty  bottle  of  ale,  which 
had  been  full  the  previous  day.  There  were  finger  prints  on 
the  bottle,  which  was  protected  by  a  cardboard  shield  and 
taken  to  Scotland  Yard,  where  the  prints  of  tlie  photograph, 
afterwards,  were  found  to  correspond  with  those  of  McAllister, 
who  had  just  previously  been  released  from  jail.  McAllister, 
on  his  arrest,  in  some  way  learned  that  they  had  his  finger 


LAST  CHAXCE  GONE  3ur 

prints,  and,  realizing  their  value  as  evidence,  made  a  circum- 
stantial admission  which  led  to  the  recovery  of  the  goods  and 
the  conviction  of  his  partner,  Alexander  Harley,  on  whose 
premises  the  property  was  found. 

A  half-empty  hottle  of  wine  was  discovered  in  the  room  of 
an  old  woman  at  Asnieres,  France,  she  having  been  murdered. 
A  close  examination  of  the  bottle  revealed  finger  prints,  which 
were  submitted  to  M.  Bertillon,  the  great  identification  ex- 
pert, who  caused  large  photographs  to  be  made,  and  who,  after 
research,  declared  they  were  the  imprints  of  a  hospital  at- 
tendant named  Gales,  who  has  since  been  arrested,  charged 
with  the  murder,  and  convicted. 

MUEDER   EeVEALED    BY    FlNGER    PeINTS. 

Recently  in  London  a  murder  was  committed,  and  in  order 
to  destroy  any  chance  of  detection,  the  murderer  took  the  tin 
of  his  shoe  lace  and  cut  the  tips  of  his  fingers  in  all  directions. 
He  was  suspected  of  the  crime  and  arrested.  The  officers 
found  blood  prints  on  the  furniture  and  other  things  in  the 
house  w^here  the  murder  was  committed,  and  when  the  man's 
fingers  healed  his  prints  were  taken  and  corresponded  exactly 
with  those  discovered  by  the  officers;  conviction  followed. 

Where  large  bodies  of  Chinese  or  negroes  are  employed  on 
government  or  public  work  it  is  often  difficult  to  stop  men 
from  representing  themselves  as  being  other  men  and  signing 
the  pay  roll  to  obtain  the  wages  due  others.  Nowadays  the 
thumb  print  of  each  employee  is  taken  and  when  he  comes 
up  to  draw  his  money  and  there  is  any  doubt  as  to  his  identity 
he  makes  a  fresh  imprint,  which  easily  disposes  of  the  matter. 
Eich  men  disposing  of  their  property  by  will,  in  addition  to 
their  regular  signature,  also  place  the  finger  prints  of  both 
hands  on  the  paper,  thereby  insuring  the  authenticity  of  the 
document.  An  easy  way  to  protect  a  check  is  to  put  the  thumb 
print  where  the  figures   are  w^ritten  in. 

Among  the  most  noted  of  these  is  the  case  of  Thomas  Wilson, 


308  LAST  CHAXCE  GO^^E 

^\■\\o  a  few  years  ago  committed  a  burglary  and  most  atrocious 
murder  near  Windsor^  England. 

Besides  the  bludgeon  with  which  he  felled  his  unsuspecting 
victim,  Wilson  carried  a  lantern  which  was  blackened  by 
smoke,  and,  after  accomplishing  his  design  of  robbery,  the 
fiend  took  his  departure. 

As  he  made  his  escape  after  the  foul  murder,  Wilson  picked 
up  the  smoke-begrimed  lantern  and  left  upon  it  an  imprint 
of  a  thumb  wet  with  the  blood  of  his  victim. 

►Sent  to  Gallows  by  Bloody  Thumb  Print. 

With  the  cunning  of  the  criminal  he  covered  his  tracks,  and 
as  a  last  resort  Chief  Henry  of  Scotland  Yard  secured  the 
lantern  bearing  the  tell-tale  print  and  resolved  to  try  the  ef- 
ficiency of  the  ancient  Chinese  method  of  fixing  responsibility 
by  finger  tracks. 

This  astute  detective  had  paid  some  attention  to  tlie  fact 
that  no  two  hands  would  leave  a  similar  imprint,  and,  working 
upon  this  theory,  he  pursued  a  still  hunt  until. he  found  a 
man  whose  right  thumb  made  an  imprint  identical  with  thai 
upon  the  lantern.  When  found,  vigorous  denial  followed  ac- 
cusation, but  measurements  were  drawn  to  such  a  fine  point 
that  the  culprit  finally  confessed  and  expiated  his  heinous 
crime  upon  the  gallows. 

Recently  the  perpetrator  of  an  extensive  burglary  in  tlu' 
jewelry  shop  of  ]\Ir.  Bickley,  Lord  Mayor  of  Staffordshire. 
England,  left  the  imprint  of  his  fingers  upon  a  plate  glass 
shelf.  The  shelf  was  sent  to  Scotland  Yard  and  the  finger- 
print record  disclosed  a  duplicate  in  the  records  left  by  ihe 
digits  of  William  Davis,  well  known  to  the  authorities.  When 
confronted  with  the  mute  evidences  of  guilt  the  culprit  con- 
fessed. 

In  a  police  court  at  London  a  few  months  ago  a  man  aji- 
pearcd  who  declined  to  give  any  name  or  address.  A  detective 
thought  he  rer-ognizod  him  as  .Tolm  Wliite.  wanted  for  a  jewel 


LAST  CHANCE  GONE  309 

I'obbery  some  time  before,  though  his  facial  appearance  had 
changed  and  did  not  tally  with  photographs  held  by  the  police. 
However,  the  imprint  left  by  his  fingers  when  in  custody  before 
had  not  changed  a  particle  and  his  identity  was  established. 

After  the  success  attained  in  numerous  instances  the  author- 
ities at  Scotland  Yard  decided  to  adopt  the  system  and  have 
now  so  perfected  it  that  no  malefactor  who  leaves  a  finger 
print  can  hope  to  escape  ultimate  punishment. 

Mr.  Wm.  A.  Pinkerton,  of  the  famous  Pinkerton's  Na- 
tional Detective  Agency,  and  without  doubt  one  of  the  greatest  ■ 
criminal  experts,  on  his  return  from  Europe,  in  an  interview 
jniblished  recently^  says:  "During  my  visit  at  New  Scotland 
Yard,  London,  I  was  greatly  interested  in  the  high  state  of 
efficiency  which  the  finger  print  system  of  identification  has 
reached  in  the  police  service  of  London.  The  Bureau  of  Fin- 
ger Prints  there  is  one  of  the  most  marvelous  departments  I 
ever  examined.  Identification  of  criminals  has  been  reduced 
practically  to  a  matter  of  bookkeeping.  You  get  the  finger 
print  and  then  simply  turn  up  your  indexes,  and  you  know 
your  man  at  once.  A  criminal  may  shave  or  grow  his  beard,  be- 
come stout  or  thin,  alter  his  appearance  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent, but  the  one  constant  feature  of  his  makeup  is  his  finger 
prints. 

The  only  safe  way  for  criminals  nowadays  is  to  wear  gloves 
when  they  go  out  on  a  job,  for  the  impressions  they  leave  of 
the  fingers  are  found  by  detectives  on  glasses,  newspapers,  dusty 
tables,  and  the  slightest  impression  of  the  fingers  on  a  damp 
table  or  paper  can,  by  the  process  in  use  at  the  Yard,  serve 
as  an  adequate  means  of  identification." 

Government  to  Keep  Watch  on  Criminals. 

The  United  States  government  at  Washington,  D.  C,  has 
established  a  criminal  identification  bureau,  or  what  may  be 
called  an  "Habitual  Criminal  Registry,''  for  keeping  the  record.'^ 
of  all  men  convicted  of  crimes  against  the  federal  laws,  and 


310  LAST  CHANC  ]•:  (^()XE 

also  all  indicted  by  grand  jnries  of  the  United  States  courts. 
The  bureau  is  to  be  under  the  supervision  of  the  department 
of  justice,  and  all  prisons  in  the  United  States  where  govern- 
ment prisoners  are  or  have  been  confined  have  been  directed 
to  send  tlieir  records,  consisting  of  photographs,  Bertillon 
measurement  cards  and  finger-print  identification  sheets  im- 
mediately to  the  department  of  justice. 

This  bureau  is  intended  to  be  used  for  the  identification  of 
federal  lawbreakers.  It  has  been  urged  for  some  time  by  crim- 
inologists. Heretofore  each  prison  in  the  United  States  has 
kept  its  own  records,  and  a  federal  lawbreaker  could  serve  a 
term  in  one  prison  and  be  freed  Avithout  the  fact  ever  becom- 
ing known  that  he  had  served  a  previous  term  for  a  similar 
offense  in  another  penitentiary. 

Now  all  records  are  to  be  classified  in  Washington,  and  not 
in  any  of  the  federal  jails  or  prisons.  The  Bertillon  meas- 
urements, photographs  ami  finger  prints  of  the  convicts  are 
to  be  taken  and  sent  to  the  central  bureau. 

Also,  the  records  of  all  men  suspected  of  being  j-eggmen,  train 
or  postoffice  rol)bers  are  to  be  taken.  Those  held  in  federal 
jails  under  indictment,  etc.,  are  to  be  sent  there. 

This  bureau  will  ascertain  the  record  of  each  man  from 
the  date  he  has,  and  if  one  noi>  yet  given  trial  proves  to  be  an 
habitual  criminal,  this  fact  will  be  made  known  to  the  prose- 
cuting attorney  and  the  judge  previous  to  the  hearing,  and 
if  the  man  is  convicted  it  will  mean  that  he  will  be  given  the 
limit- sentence. 

x\t  the  present  time  there  are  about  8,000  known  criminals 
who  violate  the  government  laws,  and  a  close  tab  is  to  be  kept 
upon  these  in  the  future.  It  will  go  hard  on  a  known  crim- 
inal convicted  in  a  United  States  court  hereafter. 


BURGLARY  A  SCIENCE. 


Up-To-Date    Professional   Burglar    Must    Be     Skilled    in 
Latest  Methods. 

ELECTRICITY  NOW  A  FACTOR. 

It   Has  Taken  the  Place  of  Dynamite  and  the  Jimmy  in 
Advanced  Safe  Looting. 

Scientific     Equipment     of     Burglar     Includes     High-Class 
Automobile. 

Jobs  at  Country  Houses  Usually  Planned  Far  in  Advance, 
and  With  Intimate  Knowledge  of  Loot 
To  Be  Gained. 


HOW  BURGLAR   UNLOCKS  DOORS. 


Unlocking  a  dtor  is  ore  of  thp  easiest  rssUs  of  ihe  professional  burglar.  His 
ingenuity  defies  the  eiforts  of  locksmiths  to  invfiU  safety  devices.  The  picture 
Shows  how  an  expert  turns  a  key  in  the  lock,  and  also  a  simple  devisee  to  prevent 
this. 


313  BURGLARY  A  SCIENCE 

The  up-to-date  burglar  must  have  a  motor  car,  the  use  of 
which  is  only  a  part  of  his  scientific  equipment.  That  the  mod- 
ern burglar  does  not  consider  that  he  is  properly  equipped  unless 
he  possesses  a  motor  car  is  an  incontrovertible  fact.  House- 
breaking nowadays  has  been  reduced  to  a  science.  The  use 
of  gloves  renders  detection  by  finger  prints  impossible.  Be- 
sides, the  modern  burglar's  tools  are  most  scientifically  made. 
The  men  who  make  it  their  business  to  manufacture  these 
tools  are  first-class  •  workmen. 

The  majority  of  large  country  burglaries  are  planned  for 
days  in  advance,  and.  every  detail  is  most  carefully  arranged 
In  some  mysterious  manner  the  word  is  conveyed  to  the  gang" 
that  a  visit  will  be  made  on  a  certain  day,  by  a  member  of 
the  household  which  it  is  intended  to  rob,  to  a  jeweler's  shop. 
The  train  is  met  at  the  terminus  and  the  person  followed  to 
the  jeweler's  or  wherever  they  go. 

When  they  enter  the  shop  a  man  strolls  in  casually  and 
makes  some  inquiries.  While  an  assistant  is  attending  to  his 
supposed  wants  it  is  very  easy  for  him  to  see  Avhat  the  person 
at  the  same  counter  is  purchasing  and,  having  obtained  all 
the  necessary  information,  the  man  leaves  and  imparts  all  his 
information  to  his  confederates. 

Before  a  county  ball  or  such  function  a  visit  to  the  jeweler's 
is  often  necessary  to  get  the  family  diamonds,  and  the  fact 
that  this  visit  is  going  to  be  made  is  either  communicated 
or  anticipated,  and  the  same  system  of  following  is  put  in 
operation.  Equipped  with  all  the  desired  information,  the 
modern  burglar  then  brings  his  motor  car  into  operation. 
There  is  no  tedious  waiting  for  trains;  he  simply  drives  down 
to  the  "crib"  and  avoids  the  old-fashioned  way  of  taking  a 
train  at  a  small  wayside  station,  with  the  chances  of  being 
arrested  on  his  arrival  in  the  metropolis. 

If  he  is  noticed  on  the  road  he  is  taken  for  a  rich  man 
touring  in  his  car,  and  if  a  great  social  function  is  in  prog- 
ress he  is  regarded  a^  n  belated  guest.     The  oar  is  carefullv 


BUKGLAIJY   A  SCIENCE  313 

stalled  in  an  obscure  place  while  the  robbery  takes  place.  Tlie 
liooty  is  subsequently  placed  in  it  and  a  quick  trip  back  to  town 
is  made.  The  police  are  left  practically  without  a  single 
clew. 

Those  members  of  the  community  who  make  a  business,  or 
a  profession,  rather,  of  burglary  keep  up  with  the  march  of 
science  quite  as  closely  as  de  people  in  a  more  legitimate 
calling. 

The  burglar  of  today  is  a  vastly  differently  equipped  indi- 
vidual from  the  one  of  a  generation  ago.  He  must  of  neces- 
,«ity  be  an  enterprising  and  daring  man,  and  in  addition  to 
that  if  he  Avould  make  a  success  of  safe  cracking  in  t1iis 
twentieth  century  he  must  be  something  of  a  scientist  as  woU. 
The  great  progress  made  in  the  manufacture  of  safes  for 
the  storage  of  valuables  has  brought  about  this  revolution  in 
the  burglar's  methods,  and  it  is  a  regrettable  fact  to  note  that 
no  matter  how  strong  and  secure  safes  may  be  made,  the  in- 
genuity of  the  scientific  burglar  is  pretty  sure  to  devise  some 
method  to  overcome  their  security. 

The  most  recent  development  in  the  burglar's  advancemeni 
is  the  use  of  electricity  to  open  safes  in  place  of  the  old-time 
jimmy  and  the  more  recent  dynamite. 

Old-Time  Strong  Box. 

Years  ago  the  old-fashioned  strong  box  was  considered  quite 
an  adecpiate  protection  for  hoarded  wealth  and  was  the  legiti- 
mate successor  of  the  stocking  in  which  the  gold  pieces  were 
carefully  stored  and  hidden  away.  The  strong  box  of  wood 
bound  with  iron  and  with  ponderous  locks  proved  but  child',< 
play  for  the  burglar  thoroughly  intent  upon  obtaining  its 
contents.  Then  came  the  more  modern  iron  and  steel  safe, 
with  its  thick  plates  of  highly  tempered  metal  and  ingeniously 
complicated  time  locks. 

Safe  breakers  have  more  than  kept  pace  with  improvement 
in  safes,  including  time. locks,  chilled  steel  chests  of  eight  or 


314  BL^EGLARY  A  SCIENCE 

nine  inches  thicknesses  and  electric  i^rotective  attachments.  Their 
tools  are  made  by  some  of  the  finest  mechanics  and  inventive 
geniuses  of  the  world.  A  full  kit  of  the  most  approved  modern 
safe  workers'  tools  costs  about  $5,000. 

The  modern  burglar  is  like  love  in  one  respect;  he  ''laughs'" 
at  locksmiths."  Yet  he  is  not  much  of  an  artist,  although  he 
is  rapidly  improving.  The  simple  tools  of  the  burglars'  trade 
indicate  how  easily  the  contrivances  made  to  bar  his  progress 
are  overcome.  Y'et  these  tools  give  no  mark  of  great  me- 
chanical genius.  They  are  as  crude  as  the  average  burglar 
is.  They  are  in  keeping  with  his  practices  of  force  and  brutal- 
ity. The  destructive  power  of  the  best  pieces  of  handiwork  is 
their  main  advantage,  and  doubtless  an  illustration  of  the 
house-breaker's  stunted  idea,  that  the  best  way  to  overcome 
obstacles  is  in  all  cases  to  break  them  down. 

The  tools  used  by  the  burglar  are  supplied  to  him.  They  are 
made  by  men  after  his  own  heart,  and  who  make  for  him 
what  is  most  effective  in  his  hands.  No  doubt  there  are  smart 
men  engaged  in  the  business  of  defying  law  and  setting  the 
rights  of  honest  people  at  naught.  Some  of  the  methods  they 
employ  might  be  used  to  their  credit  in  a  commendable  in- 
dustry. 

Jimmy  Is  Necessary. 

There  are  places  where  the  jimmy  is  absolutely  indispensable 
to  the  burglar.  Front  doors,  which  a  house  proprietor  usually 
has  doubly  bolted  and  barred  and  supplied  with  improved 
locks,  are  the  last  apertures  in  the  world  a  night  marauder 
would  seek  to  enter. 

.  It  must  be  an  amusing  thing  to  the  burglar,  after  noting 
the  precautions  taken  to  prevent  his  entrance  by  the  street 
door,  when  he  has  walked  through  the  skylight  on  the  roof 
without  the  slightest  resistance,  or  dropped  through  the  coal- 
hole leading  to  the  cellar  from  the  sidewalk,  to  find  that  no 
doors  bar  his  passage  from  there  to  the  rooms  above. 

These  arc   the  popular  ways   of  getting  into  many  banks 


BURGLARY  A  SCIENCE  315 

and  business  houses.  The  basement  door,  at  the  rear,  if  there 
is  one,  is  another.  In  such  case  the  jimmy  is  the  magic  wand 
that  opens  the  way.  It  is  more  useful  to  the  burglar  than  any 
half  dozen  of  his  other  implements,  and  is  the  first  thing  he 
purchases  when  getting  an  outfit. 

How  do  safe  burglars  get  their  tools?  Why,  every  man 
of  any  account  in  that  line  has  what  he  calls  "his  man," 
who  is  a  practical  mechanic,  and  makes  everything  in  the 
shape  of  jimmies,  punches,  etc.,  that  the  burglar  uses. 
A  safe  blower's  outfit  consists  of  many  curious  tools,  some 
of  them  being  of  special  design  for  some  particular  class 
of  work  of  which  the  owner  is  the  originator.  Scarcely  any 
two  men  work  alike,  and  some  of  the  clever  ones  invent  in- 
struments to  do  a  certain  part  of  their  work.  When  a  well- 
known  notorious  crook  was  arrested  several  years  ago  in  his 
room,  the  officers  found  one  of  the  finest  kits  of  burglars'  tools 
that  was  ever  brought  into  police  headquarters.  Talk  about 
ingenuity — if  that  man  had  applied  but  one-third  of  the  intel- 
ligence to  a  legitimate  business  that  he  had  spent  in  devising 
tools  for  robbery,  he  would  have  been  a  millionaire  today. 

Twenty  years  ago  when  burglars  started  out  to  rob  a  safe 
they  filled  a  carpet  sack  with  highly  tempered  drills,  copper 
sledges,  sectijjnal  jimmies,  dark  lanterns,  powder  and  a  fuse. 
On  the  way  they  stole  a  horse  and  Avagon,  filling  the  latter 
with  the  greater  portion  of  the  tools  of  a  country  blacksmith 
shop.  They  Avould  work  on  the  safe  from  four  to  six  hours, 
and  finally  blow  it  open  with  a  fine  grade  of  ducking  powder. 
Usually  the  shock  would  break  all  the  glass  in  the  building, 
arouse  the  town,  and  the  burglars  would  often  have  to  fight 
for  their  lives.  In  those  days  the  men  had  to  be  big  and 
powerful,  because  the  work  was  extremely  laborious.  If  the 
burglar  was  an  ex-prize  fighter  or  noted  tough,  so  much  the 
better,  for  he  could  make  a  desperate  resistance  in  case  he 
was  caught  in  the  act,  or  immediately  after  it. 

With  the  modern  safe  burglar  it  is  almost  totally  different. 


31b  BUEGLAEY  A  SCIEXCE 

Although  much  more  skillful  and  .sueees>sful  than  his  predeces- 
sor, he  is  more  conservative.  He  seldom  runs  his  own  head 
into  danger,  and  therefore  seldom  endangers  the  head  of  a 
law-abiding  citizen  by  permitting  his  head  to  come  into  contact 
with  him  or  the  job  while  it  is  under  way.  Every  precaution 
is  taken  against  being  surprised,  and  it  is  seldom  the  robbery 
is  discovered  until  the  cashier's  appearance  the  next  morning. 
The  modern  safe  burglar  is  an  exceedingly  keen,  intelligent 
man.  He  can  open  a  safe  having  all  modern  improvements  in 
from  ten  minutes  to  two  hours  Avithout  tlie  aid  of  explosives 
jind  by  only  slightly  defacing  the  safe.  Sometimes  he  leaves 
scarcely  a  mark. 

A  first-class  modern  safe,  Avhether  large  or  small,  generally 
has  double  outside  and  inside  doors,  with  a  steel  chest  in  the 
bottom,  forming  really  a  safe  within  a  safe,  the  inside  being 
the  stronger.  The  outside  door  is  usually  either  "stuffed"  or 
"skeleton.''  The  inside  one  is  made  of  eight  or  nine  sheets,  of 
different  temper,  of  the  finest  steel.  These  sheets  are  bolted 
together  with  conical  bolts  having  left-hand  tlireads,  after 
v.'liicli  the  heads  of  the  bolts  are  cut  off.  leaving  what  is  vir- 
tually a  solid  piece  of  steel,  which  no  drill  can  penetrate.  The 
l)(';;t  locks  are  of  the  combination  type,  with  time  lock  aitacli- 
ment.  In  many  cities  and  town  safes  containing  the  valuables 
have  an  electric  alarm  attached.  Any  tampering  with  it  will 
communicate  the  fact  to  the  owners  or  the  safe's  guardian, 
which  in  cities  is  either  an  electric  protective  bureau  or  a  cen- 
tral police  station.  A  recent  invention  in  France  is  a  photo- 
graphic attachment.  As  soon  as  the  safe  is  touched  this  device 
will  light  an  electric  lamp,  photograph  the  intruder  and  give 
tlie  alarm  at  the  electric  protective  company's  office.  As  a  con- 
sec[uence  safe-breaking  is  going  out  of  date  in  1^^-ance,  as  tlie 
cleverest  criminals  have  so  far  failed  to  find  a  way  to  cinnni- 
vent  the  camera. 

The  first  thing  considered  by  a  gang  of  the  finest  experts, 
is  a  desirable  bank's  location  and  the  chances  foi-  getting  safely 


BURGLARY  A  SCIENCE 


«1Y 


!18 


BURGLAEY  A  SCIEiYCE 


BURGLARY  A  SCIENCE 


319 


320 


BUKGLAKY  A  8CiEx\CE 


13URGLAKY  A  SCIENCE 


321 


32?. 


BURGLARY  A  SCIENCE 


PEaiNiS  A  B/INAN4 
OR, AN  ONION,  OWE 
SAF€  tKSJOt  1HC 


BUKGLAEY  A  SCIENCE  333 

away  with,  the  plunder.  Every  transportation  facility  is  care- 
fully considered.  As  the  work  is  almost  invariably  done  at 
the -"season  of  the  year  when  wagon  roads  are  impassible,  rail- 
road time  tables  are  carefully  considered.  In  these  days  of 
the  telegraph  and  telephone  the  gang  must  be  under  cover 
in  a  large  city  or  concealed  with  friends  by  the  time  the  crime 
is  discovered,  which,  at  the  utmost,  is  about  six  hours  after 
the  crime  has  been  committed. 

From  November  1  to  March  1  is  the  safe  burglar's  harvest 
time,  because  then  the  nights  are  longest  and  the  chances  of 
detection  less,  as  fewer  people  are  on  the  streets  and  houses 
adjoining,  being  tightly  closed  to  exclude  the  cold,  exclude 
noises  also.  A  man  can,  furthermore,  carry  tools  in  an  over- 
coat without  attracting  attention,  that  he  could  not  wear  with 
a  summer  suit.  The  remainder  of  the  year  is  spent  in  "mark- 
ing'^ the  most  desirable  banks  for  future  operations.  Four 
men,  who  compose  the  ordinary  safe  mob,  will  put  up  from 
thirty  to  forty  '"jobs"  for  a  winter's  work,  allowing  for  all 
contingencies.  From  six  to  ten  of  these  will  be  carried  out. 
A  bank  safe  will  be  broken  into  in  a  small  town  in  Maine,  and 
in  ten  days  the  gang  will  be  operating  in  Texas. 

Having  decided  on  a  bank,  the  habits  of  the  cashier  and 
other  chief  employees  are  carefully  studied;  but,  above  all,  of 
those  who  visit  the  bank  after  working  hours,  chief  of  Avhom 
is  the  watchman,  if  the  bank  has  one.  If  the  watchman  drinks, 
or  spends  time  visiting  women  when  he  should  be  at  the  bank, 
the  bank  is  an  easy  prey.  Weeks,  and  sometimes  even  months, 
are  spent  in  putting  up  a  job  of  magnitude,  and  a  number 
of  smaller  jobs  are  done  to  carry  out  one  where  the  proceeds 
may  run  into  the   tens   of  thousands   of   dollars. 

Men  visit  the  town  who  have  a  legitimate  business  as  a 
"blind."  They  make  all  preliminary  preparations.  The  great- 
est ingenuity  is  employed  to  obtain  exact  information,  such 
as  the  evenings  the  cashier  or  teller  is  likely  to  visit  the  bank 
and  the  exact  time. 


324  BURGLAKY  A  SCIENCE 

Scientific  Burglary. 

Burglars  whose  chief  qiialifieation  is  the  mechanical  ability 
to  open  bank  vaults  and  safes  and  steal  thousands  of  dollars 
in  bonds  or  cash  cannot  be  classed  with  those  who  break  open 
a  store  door  and  filch  a  lot  of  buckets,  brooms  or  dry  goods. 

The  man  who  makes  the  defects  of  a  combination  lock,  safe 
or  vault  a  study  must  have  intelligence  and  mechanical  knowl- 
edge equal  to  that  of  a  man  who  draws  a  big  salar}^  for  what 
he  knows.  Whenever  any  new  combination  lock  is  brought 
in  the  market  for  vault  or  safe  use  the  scientific  burglar  ob- 
tains one,  and  by  patient  study  discovers  its  weakness  or  defect, 
something  which  every  safe  or  vault  has. 

The  combination  of  a  safe  or  vault  has  often  been  learned 
by  these  burglars  by  obtaining  an  entrance  to  the  banking 
house  after  banking  hours,  removing  the  dial  of  the  combina- 
tion and  placing  a  sheet  of  tin  foil  behind  it.  Then,  replacing 
the  dial,  the  turning  of  the  combination  in  opening  or  closing 
makes  the  impression  of  letters  or  numbers  on  the  soft  foil, 
which  is  removed  by  the  burglar  at  the  first  chance  he  has 
to  get  into  the  banking  house.  Having  the  combination  im- 
pressed on  the  tin  foil,  he  and  his  accomplices  open  the  vault 
or  safe,  secure  the  contents,  and  then  often  change  or  put  out 
of  order  the  combination,  so  the  doors  of  the  vault  or  safe 
cannot  be  opened  for  some  hours  after  the  regular  time  for 
opening,  and  then  only  by  an  expert  of  that  particular  safe 
company.  This,  of  course,  gives  the  thieves  several  hours  of 
valuable  time  in  which  to  effect  their  escape. 

The  tools  required  by  the  mechanical  burglar  who  forces 
open  safes  are  the  air  pump,  putty,  powder,  fuse,  sectional 
jimmy,  steel  drills,  diamond  drills,  copper  sledges,  steel-faced 
sledges  (leather  covered),  lamp  and  blow  pipe,  jack  screw, 
wedges,  dynamite  and  syringe,  brace  with  box  slide,  feed  screw 
drills,  steel  punches,  small  bellows,  blank  steel  keys,  skeleton 
keys,  nippers,  dark  lantern,  twine  and  screw  exes.     The  latest. 


BUKULAKY  A  ^^CIE^SUE 


3^1 


most  dangerous  set  of  tools  manufactiired  is  the  second  power 
in  mechanics — the  screw. 

The  method  of  <\'ork  with  the  screw  is  to  first  rig  a  l)race, 
and  then  drill  a  hole  in  the  safe,  cut  a  thread  in  the  hole  and 
then  insert  a  female  screw.  Then,  with  a  long  steel  screw 
with  a  handle  so  long  that  two  men  can  turn  it,  the  screw  is 
inserted  in  the  female  screw,  and  by  turning  it  goes  in  until  it 
strikes  the  hack  of  the  safe.  Then  either  the  back  or  the  front 
must  give  way.  In  nearly  all  cases  it  is  the  latter,  as  that  is 
the  weakest,  and  it  gives  enough  to  insert  the  sectional  jimmy, 
which  the  screw  handle  is  part  of.  The  jimmy  is  then  in- 
serted in  the  part  forced  out,  and  the  safe  is  then  torn  asunder 
and  its  contents  easily  appropriated.  This  work  is  accom- 
i:)lished  without  much  noise. 

Invent  New  Devices. 

However,  these  new  one-piece  safes  have  not  discouraged  the 
malefactors.  They  have  only  suggested  to  them  the  creation 
of  special  appliances  which  enable  them,  without  stopping  to 
pick  the  lock,  to  remove  from  the  side  wall  of  the  safe  a 
circle  of  the  metal  large  enough  to  allow  of  an  arm  to  be  put 
inside. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  these  new  devices  for  assist- 
ing the  safe-crackers  in  their  crime  is  formed  of  an  iron  hoop 
furnished  with  well-tempered  steel  teeth,  which  is  fixed  by 
means  of  a  simple  pivot  on  the  safe  after  a  screw  worm  has 
been  previously  driven  in.  The  instrument  is  then  turned 
on  its  pivot  and  plows  a  groove  in  the  safe  wall  each  time  it 
revolves. 

Science  has  not  left  the  burglar  weaponless,  however.  The 
progress  accomplished  has  merely  compelled  him  to  obtain 
higher  qualifications,  and  in  the  continuous  strife  between  the 
armor  plate  and  the  desperado  who  would  pierce  it  the  thieves 
have  had  hitherto  the  last  word.  For  many  years  dynamite 
was  their  chief  reliance,  and  then  a  product  was  discovered 


326  BURGLAKY  A  SCIENCE 

some  years  ago  by  a  chemist,  who  gave  it  the  name  of  "thermit/* 
hy  Yv'hieh  the  craeksmarj  was  ahle  to  melt  sheet  metal,  inches 
thick,  with  comparatively  little  trouble.    - 

Melts  Hardest  Steel. 

This  substance  known  as  "thermit"  is  in.  current  use  for 
repairing,  heating  or  soldering^  large  pieces  of  metal  and  con- 
sists of  a  mixture  of  aluminum  and  oxide  of  iron,  the  latter 
being  replaced,  according  to  the  requirement,  by  oxide  of  lead, 
peroxide  of  sodium  or  peroxide  of  barium.  This  composition 
is  thoroughly  mixed  together,  or  is  used  in  the  form  of  cart- 
ridges or  tablets,  which  ignite  by  means  of  a  piece  of  mag- 
nesium fixed  in  the  substance  like  a  wick.  The  heat  developed 
is  more  than  sufficient  to  cause  the  hardest  steel  to  melt. 

Although  this  process  is  rapid  and  silent  and  really  mar- 
velous from  the  point  of  view  of  the  result  obtained,  it  is  not 
without  much  danger  to  those  using  it,  for  at  the  high  tempera- 
ture produced  by  it  an  inexperienced  operator  runs  the  risk 
of  being  seriously  burned.  In  consequence  the  prudent  and 
careful  burglar  uses  accessories  which  render  him  secure  against 
such  accidents.  He  protects  his  eyes  by  means  of  heavy  dark 
glasses,  wears  shields  of  aluminum  over  his  hands  and  applies 
the  mixture  through  a  small  hole  in  the  bottom  of  a  crucible. 
When  the  reaction  takes  place  it  lasts  long  enough  to  allow 
the  operator  to  charge  the  crucible  again  and  again  in  pro- 
portion as  the  melting  of  the  metal  plate  is  effected,  thus 
making  an  opening  of  the  desired  size  in  the  safe.  It  is  a 
simple  enough  operation  for  a  skilled  burglar,  but  a  very  dan- 
gerous one  for  an  amateur. 

Tests  with  Electricity. 
But  even  this  has  been  discounted  by  an  experiment  before 
a  United  States  government .  commission,  showing  that  elec- 
tricity can  be  so  applied  as  to  give  the  scientific  cracksman  n 
gTeater  field  for  operation  than  ever  before.  The  experiment 
was  made  by   an   expert  burglar,   who,   having  retired    from 


BUEGLAKY  A  .SCIENCE  337 

business  after  amassing  a  sufficient  competency,  was  requested 
to  favor  the  commission  by  contributing  the  light  of  his  knowl- 
edge. 

He  demonstrated  that  by  the  aid  of  electricity  he  could, 
within  a  short  time,  reduce  safes  of  the  highest  repute  to  old 
iron.  For  this  purpose  he  took  out  of  his  pocket  a  style  in  the 
form  of  retort  carbon,  similar  to  those  used  for  arc  lamps;  a 
few  yards  of  electric  wire,  black  eyeglasses  and  a  plate  pierced 
in  the  middle.  It  was  with  this  simple  outfit  he  pierced  in 
less  than  three  minutes  a  circle  of  holes  in  a  cast  steel  safe 
with  walls  one  and  a  half  inches  thick. 

His  method  of  procedure  was  simplicity  itself.  To  the 
electric  supply  current  of  the  chandelier  overhead  he  connected 
two  wires,  one  of  which  he  fixed  on  the  safe,  and  the  other  at 
the  extreme  of  his  carbon  style.  It.  was  suitably  insulated  by 
a  wooden  handle.  Then,  having  inserted  this  pencil  in  the 
hole  of  the  plate,  whose  purpose  was  to  protect  him  against 
the  heat  and  light,  he  produced  a  voltaic  arc  of  immense  power 
between  the  point  of  his  style  and  the  wall  of  the  safe,  thus 
melting  the  metal  with  the  greatest  ease. 

Some  Concrete  Examples. 
BuiiGLAEs  Use  Acetylene  Flame  to  Open  Safe  Door. 

In  Paris,  January  4,  1908,  burglars  broke  into  the  premises 
of  Martin  and  Baume,  colonial  traders,  at  Marseilles,  and  stole 
money  and  goods  to  the  value  of  $20,000.  Most  of  their  booty 
they  took  from  a  safe,  the  door  of  which  they  burnt  through 
with  an  apparatus  giving  an  acetylene  flame  of  sufficient  heat 
to  melt  the  metal. 

The  case  recalls  one  at  Antwerp  recenth^,  when  the  thieves 
melted  a  safe  with  a  combined  oxygen  and  acetylene  flame. 

The  police  believe  that  the  Marseilles  burglars  are  past 
masters  of  the  art,  and  that  probably  not  more  than  a  dozen 
possess  such  apparatus  for  melting  safes.     One  or  more  of 


328  BURGLAEY  A  .SCIENCE 

the  burglars  may  probably  have  been   employed  at   a   motor 
factory,  where  acetylene  lamps  are  in  frequent  use. 

In  any  case,  even  the  finest  lock  or  the  best  steel  safe  can't 
resist,  if  burglars  take  to  using  oxygen  and  acetylene  lamps 
with  blow-pipes.  Safe  manufacturers  have  a  new  problem  to 
solve. 

The  Bank  Sneak. 

The  bank  sneaks  of  the  country  were  formerly  among  the 
most  troublesome  criminals  with  whom  the  police  had  to  deal. 
The  money  and  jewelry  stolen  by  them  aggregated  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  dollars  annually. 

The  bank  sneak  is  the  cleverest  of  crooks,  and  as  bold  and 
daring  as  any  of  them.  But  modern  police  methods,  the  sys- 
tem of  exchanging  Bertillon  photographs,  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  bankers'  and  jewelers'  associations,  together  with  per- 
fect burglar  alarm  equipment,  have  combined  to  put  him  out 
of  business,  and  his  work  nowadays  is  on  a  limited  scale. 

During  the  past  ten  years  not  more  than  five  good  bank 
sneak  games  have  been  pulled  oflF,  Avhile  there  has  been  a  sim- 
ilar reduction  in  the  raids  on  jewelry  shops. 

The  Bertillon  photographs  facilitate  the  identification  of 
the  sneak  and  the  bankers'  and  jewelers'  organization  put  up 
the  money  with  Avhich  to  pursue  him  remorselessly,  and  soon 
catch  him.  Concerning  the  bank  sneak  and  his  mode  of  oper- 
ating: 

An  expert  professional  bank  "sneak"  thief  and  his  asso- 
ciates study  the  habits  of  all  employes  to  determine  when 
the  greatest  number  are  absent  (which  generally  happens  at 
the  noon  hour),  decide  how  many  confederates  will  be  neces- 
sary to  engage  the  attention  of  the  remaining  employes,  while 
Ihe  sneak  thief  noiselessly  enters  a  vault,  teller's  cage,  or  goes 
to  a  safe,  and  commits  the  robbery. 

Confederates  are  usually  of  good  appearance,  understand 
business  methods,  can  discuss  loans,  mortgages,  sale  of  securi- 
ties, etc.,  long  enough  to  allow  the  "sneak"  to  operate  with- 


BUKGLARY  A  SCIENCE  329 

out  discovery.  A  ''sneak'^  thief,  wearing  rubber-soled  shoes, 
will  frequently  pass  within  a  few  feet  of  the  official  or  clerk 
in  charge,  enter  a  vault  or  teller's  cage,  or  rob  a  safe  or  money 
drawer,  without  creating  the  slightest  noise. 

A  ruse  to  make  the  way  clear  for  the  "sneak"  is  for  a  con- 
federate to  drive  in  a  carriage  to  the  bank  or  store  to  be  robbed, 
as  a  pretext  exhibiting  a  crutch,  or  accompanied  by  a  female, 
requesting  some  passer-by  to  ask  the  cashier  or  some  other 
official  to  step  out  to  the  carriage,  which  usually  occurs  when 
few  of  the  employes  are  in  the  place. 

Another  device  is  to  hold  a  large  blue  print  of  some  prop- 
erty on  which  is  pretended  a  loan  is  desirable,  or  a  bundle  of 
maps  offered  for  sale,  in  such  position  that  the  view  of  the 
official  being  interviewed  is  obstructed,  thereby  covering  the 
"sneak"  and  giving  him  opportunity  to  operate. 

Another  more  recent  artifice  is  the  telephone;  the  confed- 
erate of  the  "sneak"  at  an  appointed  minute  "calls  up"  the 
bank  and  requests  that  the  paying  teller  be  sent  to  the  'phone, 
and  there  detains  him  in  conversation  while  the  "sneak"  thief 
operates;  confederates,  as  may  be  necessary,  engaging  the  at- 
tention of  other  employes. 

Circus  Day  Brings  a  Harvest. 

Many  sneak  robberies  were  formerly  committed  in  medium- 
sized  towns  on  circus  days,  while  most  of  the  employes  were 
at  windows  or  doors  watching  the  circus  parade.  This  offered 
"sneak"  thieves  the  opportunity  to  enter  the  building  by  some 
unguarded  door  or  window,  or  having,  prior  to  the  parade, 
concealed  themselves  in  the  bank  or  store,  to  commit  the  rob- 
bery while  the  parade  is  passing,  virtually  behind  the  backs  of 
the  employes. 

A  favorite  scheme,  especially  in  savings  banks,  is  for  one 
fhief  to  attract  the  attention  of  a  customer  who  is  counting 
money,  to  have  a  bill  purposely  dropped  in  front  of  him  on 
the  floor  by  the  thief  and,  wliile  he  stoops  down  to  pick  it  up, 
believing  it  part  of  his  money,  another  thief  steals  the  then  un- 


330  BURGLARY  A  SCIENCE 

protected  money  he,  the  customer,  was  counting.  Often  pro- 
fessional "sneak"  thieves  have  posed  as  bank  clerks  or  porters, 
wearing  office  coats  or  porter's  uniforms  and,  when  the  op- 
portunity presents  itself,  committed  robberies  of  considerable 
magnitude. 

Some  of  the  old-time  "sneaks"  used  specially  made  steel  in- 
struments of  various  shapes  to  move  packages  of  money  from 
one  section  of  the  teller's  cage  to  a  point  nearer  the  teller's 
window,  so  that  it  could  be  more  readily  extracted.  This  prac- 
tice, while  the  utmost  caution  is  necessary  to  avoid  suspicion, 
has  been  quite  successful. 

At  times  thieves  have  used  large  satchels  or  dress-suit  cases 
to  stand  upon  and,  with  a  long  wire  hook,  extracted  money  by 
reaching  over  the  wire  screen  surrounding  a  paying  teller's 
cage. 

A  method  sometimes  used  to  commit  money  drawer  or  "till" 
robberies  in  stores  is  to  select  some  innocent-appearing  store- 
keeper, usually  a  foreigner,  whom  one  of  the  thieves  wearing  a 
silk  hat  would  approach,  informing  him  that  they  had  just  made 
a  wager  that  the  hat  would  not  hold  more  than  a  gallon  of  mo- 
lasses, and  requesting  that  the  storekeeper  measure  a  gallon 
of  molasses  into  the  hat  at  their  expense,  to  decide  the  wager. 
Blinding  Victim  v^^ith  Molasses. 

Seeing  the  prospect  of  a  sale,  even  if  the  wager  was  a  pecu- 
liar one,  the  groceryman  would  concede  to  this  request.  The 
hat  being  partly  filled,  one  of  the  thieves  would  place  it  quickly 
on  the  merchant's  head,  blinding  him  with  the  molasses,  while 
they  stole  the  contents  of  the  money  drawer. 

The  "sneak"  who  commits  the  robbery,  to  be  successful, 
usually  is  of  small  stature,  active,  alert  and  noiseless,  as  upon 
him  mainly  depends  the  success  or  failure  of  the  venture.  He 
must  judge  from  the  operations  of  his  associates  when  the  op- 
portunity to  commit  the  robbery  has  arrived.  There  are  no 
signals  or  conversations  between  the  confederates  and  the 
"sneak"  designating  the  moment  for  him  to  act.     He  must 


BURGLARY  A  SCIENCE  331 

decide  this  from  observation  of  what  his  confederates  have 
accomplished  in  preparing  a  safe  way  for  him.  If  there  is  a 
suspicion  or  a  discovery  by  employes,  it  devolves  upon  his  con- 
federates to  do  their  utmost  to  confuse  and  obstruct  the  pur- 
suers. 

I  once  asked  an  old-time  professional  "sneak"  thief  how  he 
was  first  introduced  into  a  band  of  first-class  bank  "sneaks." 
He  explained  that  he  was  raised  in  a  small  village  having  a 
general  store  presided  over  by  a  widow ;  that  she  at  times  would 
go  to  the  cellar  for  certain  merchandise,  leaving  the  store  un- 
g-uarded.  This  suggested  to  him  how  easy  it  would  be  to  rob 
the  money  drawer  during  her  absence  in  the  cellar,  which  he 
afterward  did,  and  which  was  his  first  successful  "sneak"  rob- 
bery. Afterward  he  stole  from  a  small  window  in  the  same 
store,  packages  of  chewing  tobacco,  pipes,  etc.,  also  occasion- 
ally again  robbing  a  baker}''  of  pies  and  cakes,  and  occasion- 
ally again  robbing  the  "till."  But  one  afternoon,  before  a 
Fourth  of  July,  in  attempting  to  steal  some  packages  of  fire- 
crackers and  some  loose  torpedoes,  a  couple  of  the  torpedoes 
dropped  to  the  floor,  causing  an  explosion  and  resulting  iifliis 
discovery  and  arrest  and  final  imprisonment.  In  jail  he  met 
with  other  criminals,  and  finally  became  one  of  them,  joining 
with  the  first-class  "sneak"  band  of  professional  criminals. 
This  man  for  years  was  a  most  successful  leader  of  "sneak" 
thieves,  stealing  fortunes,  finally  dying  in  prison  and  leaving  a 
family  in  actual  want. 

Raeely  Use  Pistols. 

Among  the  old-timers  were  some  of  the  most  remarkable 
criminals  operating  in  any  part  of  the  world;  their  thefts  re- 
quiring, in  almost  every  instance,  dexterity  and  great  presence 
of  mind,  a  quick  eye  and  unflinching  courage,  yet  few  of  these 
"sneaks"  used  fire-arms  or  weapons  of  any  kind  in  the  com- 
mission of  their  crimes. 

Among  the  younger  element  appear  the  names  of  the  clever- 


332  BUKGLARY  A  8C1EXCE 

est  thieves  of  today,  some  of  whom  have  operated  e:!cten?iYely 
in  this  country  and  abroad. 

The  Lord  Bond  Eobbery. 

One  of  tlie  hirge?t  ".sneak''  robberies  ever  committed  in  the 
United  States  occurred  hite  in  the  sixties,  and  has  always  been 
referred  to  as  the  "Lord  bond  robbery."  Lord  was  a  wealthy 
man,  and  had  an  office  at  23  Broad  street,  Xew  York  City. 
He  had  invested  $1,200,000  in  7-30  TTnited  States  bonds,  all 
being  coupon  bonds,  payable  to  bearer,  which  any  one  with  a 
knowledge  of  finance  could  easily  dispose  of  at  this  time.  A 
band  of  "sneak"  thieves,  consisting  of  "Hod"  Ennis,  Charlie 
Eoss,  Jimraie  Griffin  and  "Piano"  Charlie  Bullard,  planned  to 
steal  these  bonds. 

Awaiting  their  opportunity  until  a  morning  arrived  when 
Mr.  Lord  was  absent  from  his  office,  they  entered  it  when  it 
was  in  charge  of  only  two  clerks. 

Bullard  and  Ross  engaged  these  clerks  in  conversation,  while 
Ennis  "sneaked"  into  the  vault,  seized  the  tin  box  containing 
the  bonds,  and  Avalked  out  with  it.  While  these  thieves  were 
ex^rt  in  their  particular  line,  they  did  not  fully  understand 
the  negotiating  of  the  bonds,  and  for  this  called  in  George 
Bidwell,  since  renowned  as  the  Bank  of  England  forger,  who 
went  to  England  and  disposed  of  a  large  part  of  them.  The 
thieves  were  at  the  time  suspected,  and  Ennis  fled  to  Canada, 
but  Avas  subsequently  extradited  to  the  United  States  and  con- 
victed of  a  crime  committed  some  time  before.  He  was  sen- 
tenced to  a  long  term  of  imprisonment.  Charlie  Bullard  set- 
tled in  Paris,  but  afterward  returned  to  the  Ignited  States,  and 
with  Adam  Worth,  successfully  committed  the  Boylston  Bank 
robbery,  after  which  both  returned  to  Paris  and  opened  the 
celebrated  American  bar  under  the  Grand  Hotel,  2  Rue  Scribe, 
which  flourished  for  many  years.  Bullard  afterward  was  arrest- 
ed for  an  attempted  bank  burglary  in  Belgium,  and  was  sen- 
tenced to  prison  for  a  long  term.  Bullard,  Ross,  Ennis  and 
Worth  all  stole  millions  of  dollars  in  their  day  and  died  poor. 


BUKULARY  A  yOlENCE 
BLIND. 


o^o 


justice—"  i  can't  see  it." 

One  Man's  Bold  Operations. 
Another  celebrated  robbery  was  on  January  7,  1878,  of 
$500,000  in  bonds  and  securities  from  the  office  of  James  H. 
Young,  a  banker  and  broker  at  44  Nassau  street,  New  York 
City,  by  "sneak"  thieyes  headed  by  "Rufe"  Minor,  alias  "Little 
Rufe/'  exceptionally  cleyer  in  his  line,  and  who  had  with  him 
George  Carson,  Horace  Hovan  and  "Billy"  Marr.  They  Avere 
located    at    Petersburg,    Va.,    on    March  23,  1878,  and  found 


334  iU  JIULAKV  A  SCIENCE 

all  of  the  stolen  property  in  Minor's  trunk.  .Minor  was  a 
Brooklyn-raised  boy,  small  of  stature,  of  good  appearance  and 
engaging  manners,  a  most  expert  "sneak"  leader,  and  was  in 
liis  lifetime  concerned  in  many  great  "sneak"  robberies,  among 
them  being:  $80,000  from  the  Commercial  Xatioual  Bank, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  1881;  $12,000  in  bonds  from  the  Bank  of 
Baltimore,  Md. ;  $111,000  m  bonds  from  the  Erie  County  Sav- 
ings Bank,  in  1882;  $73,000  from  the  ]\Iiddletown  Bank,  Mid- 
dletown.  Conn.;  $33,000  from  the  Detroit  Bank,  Detroit, 
Mich.;  $70,000  from  the  Boston  Safe  Deposit  Co..  and  $71,000 
from  the  Guarantee  Safe  &  Safety  Deposit  Co.'s;  vaults^.  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

In  Chicago,  many  years  ago,  a  band  of  professional  bank 
"sneaks"'  planned  to  rob  the  Subtreasury,  then  located  in  the 
Arcade  Court.  Philip  A.'  Hoyne,  a  leading  republican  poli- 
tician in  those  days,  had  an  office  in  this  building.  He  was 
also  a  candidate  on  the  republican  ticket  for  some  local  office. 
At  a  ball  game  "Joe"  Parrish,  a  professional  pickpocket  and 
bank  sneak,  picked  the  pocket  of  a  clerk.  Among  otlier  articles 
found  in  the  pocketbook  was  a  key  and  the  personal  card  of 
the  clerk,  which  showed  he  was  employed  in  the  Subtreasury. 

Parrish  imparted  this  information  to  Walter  BroAni,   Sam 
Perry,  Little  Joe  McCluskoy  and  Jimmy  Carroll,  all  members 
of  a  noted  bank  "sneak"  band,  then  operating. 
Hire  a  Band  to  Help  Them. 

After  several  visits  to  the  Arcade  Court  and  trying  the  key 
in  different  doors,  it  was  finally  found  to  open  a  rear  door  to 
the  Subtreasury  office.  On  the  day  the  robbery  M'as  planned  to 
l)e  committed,  the  thieves  hired  a  brass  band  to  play  in  the 
Arcade  Court  as  a  serenade  to  Candidate  Hoyne,  the  plan  of 
the  thieves  being  to  start  cheering  for  Mr.  Hoyne,  expecting 
that  the  band  and  the  cheering  would  attract  the  attention  of 
the  Subtreasury  clerks  from  their  desks  to  the  windows,  giving 
Little  Joe  McCluskoy,  the  "sneak,"  an  opportunity  of  using 
the  key  to  the  bank  entrance,  passing  into  the  office  at  the 


BURGLARY  A  SCIENCE  335 

back  of  the  clerks  and  stealing  as  much  money  as  he  could 
carry.  About  the  time  the  plans  of  the  thieves  were  completed 
Mr.  Pinkerton  learned  of  them,  and  communicated  with  Elmer 
Washburn,  then  chief  of  the  United  States  Secret  Service  at 
Washington. 

On  the  day  the  robbery  was  to  occur  the  band  appeared  as 
arranged,  the  Arcade  soon  filled  with  people,  and  there  was 
prolonged  cheering  for  Mr.  Hoyne.  Xot  one  clerk  left  his 
desk,  and  when  McCluskey  tried  to  open  the  door  with  the  key 
he  found  it  would  not  fit.  Through  precautions  taken  by  Mr. 
AYashburn,  the  lock  had  been  changed  and  instructions  given 
to  all  clerks  to  remain  at  their  desks  when  the  band  played, 
which  prevented  what  would  have  been  a  very  heavy  loss  to 
the  government.  Owing  to  the  way  the  information  had  been 
obtained,  and  not  wishing  to  expose  the  source,  no  arrests  were 
made. 

Walter  Sheridan,  known  under  many  aliases,  an  accomplished 
'"sneak"  thief,  was  a  Southerner  by  birth  and  of  gentlemanly, 
dignified  appearance.     In  addition  to  being  a  sneak,  he  was 
also  a  general  all-round  thief,  counterfeiter  and  forger. 
Importance  of  Being  on  Guard. 

One  night  in  1873,  at  Chicago,  while  Mr.  Pinkerton  was  on 
liis  way  home,  he  recalls  seeing  Walter  Sheridan,  "Philly"' 
Pearson  and  Charlie  Hicks  on  a  street  car.  He  followed  them 
to  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad  station,  where  he  saw  them 
purchase  tickets  for  Springfield,  111.  The  following  day  the 
vault  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Springfield  Avas  robbed  of 
$35,000  by  Pearson,  Avhile  Sheridan  engaged  the  attention  of 
the  bank  otficials,  and  Hicks  remained  on  guard  outside.  Later 
Hicks  was  arrested,  taken  to  Springfield,  convicted  and  sen- 
tenced to  eight  years  in  Joliet  prison.  Pearson  fled  to  Europe. 
Later  Sheridan  was  arrested  at  Toledo,  0.,  for  this  robbery, 
at  which  time  Mr.  Pinkerton  identified  him,  and  $22,000  of 
the  stolen  money  was  recovered.  Sheridan  was  mixed  up  in  a 
great  many  crimes,  but  in  the  last  vears  of  his  life  was  looked. 


;33G  BUEGLARY  A  SCIENCE 

upon  as  being  cleverer  as  a  first  class  bank  '^^sneak'^  than  in 
any  other  line,  although  he  has  been  a  successful  leader  of  bands 
of  note  counterfeiters. 

"Billy"  Coleman,  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  expert 
"sneaks"  of  modern  times,  who,  between  1869  and  190-1  was 
arrested  thirteen  times,  and  who  spent  almost  half  of  his  life- 
time in  prisons,  is  now  serving  in  the  Auburn,  New  York,  state 
prison,  a  four  and  one-half-year  term  for  the  theft  of  $30,000 
worth  of  jewelry  from  a  safe  in  the  Clark  Estate  building  at 
Cooperstown.  The  stolen  jewelry  belonged  to  Mrs.  Ambrose 
Clark,  a  daughter-in-law  of  Mrs.  Potter,  wife  of  Bishop  Potter. 

Looked  Like  Coleman's  "Work. 

Mrs.  Clark  arrived  at  Cooperstown  to  spend  the  summer  only 
a  few  days  before  the  robbery,  and  placed  the  jewelry  in  a  safe 
in  the  Clark  Estate  building  for  safety.  Investigation  showed 
the  thief  had  entered  this  building,  which  in  many  respects 
resembles  a  bank,  at  the  noon  hour,  when  all  the  employes 
were  absent,  opened  the  vault,  the  lock  of  which  had  been  left 
on  the  half-turn,  taking  therefrom  a  tin  box,  which  he  carried 
to  the  cellar  of  the  building  and  pried  open  with  tools  found 
on  the  premises,  taking  therefrom,  all  the  jewelry  and  also  valu- 
able papers.  From  descriptions  of  the  thief  we  obtained  from 
witnesses  who  had  seen  him  loitering  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Estate  office,  and  from  the  manner  in  which  the  robbery  was 
committed,  we  believed  it  bore  the  earmarks  of  Coleman's 
work.  Subsequent  developments  satisfied  us  that  our  conclu- 
sions were  correct,  and  we  caused  Coleman's  arrest,  two  weeks 
after  the  robbery,  in  New  York,  by  Police  Headquarters'  de- 
tectives. 

The  tin  box  left  by  the  thief  in  the  cellar  was  covered  with 
blood.  From  this  an  incorrect  inference  was  drawn,  that 
the  thief  had  cut  his  hands  with  one  of  the  instruments 
used  to  open  the  box.  A  careful  examination  of  Coleman  showed 
no  cuts  or  bruises  of  any  kind,  on  any  part  of  his  person,  from 


BURGLARY  A  SCIENCE  337 

which  blood  would  have  flowed.    The  grand  jury  refused  to  in- 
dict him  for  the  crime. 

On  his  release,  knowing  that  Coleman  had  most  mysteriou,-: 
ways  of  hiding  the  proceeds  of  his  robberies,  he  was  placed 
under  surveillance,  which  continued  for  some  time  without  re- 
sult, but  eventually  he  was  traced  and  found  quite  early  one 
morning,  digging  at  the  side  of  a  building  through  the  snow 
into  the  ground,  whereupon  he  was  re-arrested  and,  in  uncov- 
ering the  spot  where  he  had  been  digging,  most  of  the  stolen 
jewelry  was  found  in  an  ordinary  fruit  jar,  buried  in  the 
ground  about  two  feet. 

Diamonds  Buried  in  Jar. 

In  the  jar  were  found  several  settings  from  which  some  of 
the  diamonds  were  missing;  sixty-nine  of  these  were  found  in 
Coleman's  home,  hidden  in  a  small  pasteboard  box  in  the  earth 
at  the  bottom  of  a  rubber  plant  jar,  and  one  of  the  largest 
diamonds  removed  from  the  ring  was  found  sewn  in  a  ready- 
made  four-in-hand  necktie.  After  his  second  arrest  Coleman 
acknowledged  committing  the  robbery,  and  explained  that  a 
year  previous  he  had  made  a  tour  through  several  New  York 
State  counties  to  locate  a  bank  which  would  not  be  difficult  to 
"sneak"  in  the  daytime.  He  found  the  Clark  Estate  building 
in  Cooperstown,  which  he  believed  was  a  bank.  He  visited  it  at 
that  time,  while  the  employes  were  absent,  but  did  not  obtain 
anything,  although  he  made  a  note  of  it  as  an  easy  place  to 
rob  some  time  in  the  future. 

When  he  did  commit  the  robbery,  and  did  not  find  any 
money  in  sight,  he  picked  up  the  tin  box,  little  suspecting  it 
contained  a  fortune  in  valuable  jewelry.  When  Coleman  Avas 
(luestioned  about  the  blood  stains  on  the  tin  box,  he  explained 
that,  as  the  day  of  the  robbery  was  very  hot,  and  he  had  to  work 
quick,  in  his  great  excitement  his  nose  bled  freely,  covering 
the  tin  box  as  it  was  found.  Coleman  has  been  a  professional 
])ank  "sneak"  all  his  life,  and  in  times  past  was  renowned  for 
entering  bank  vaults  and  paying-tellers'  cages  in  the  day  time 


338  BURGLARY  A  SCIENCE 

without  being  observed.     He  never  used  firearms,  and  there  i« 
no  record   of  his  having  shed  blood  of  anyone  in   the   com- 
mission of  a  crime.     After  all  of  his  years  of  successful  steal- 
ing, he  is  again  in  Auburn  (N.  Y.)  prison,  without  means. 
Joe  Killoran's  Smooth  Work. 

"Joe"  Killoran,  alias  "Joe"  Howard,  a  rather  picturesque 
type  of  criminal,  came  from  good  old  New  York  stock,  was  a 
rather  brainy  planner  of  bank  robberies,  and  was  usually  the 
one  of  a  band  to  engage  an  employe  in  conversation  while  the 
"sneak"  committed  the  robbery.  Killoran  had  the  appearance 
of  a  well-to-do  business  man,  such  as  might  negotiate  a  loan 
from  the  bank,  representing  himself  as  from  some  firm  of 
brokers.  He  has  frequently  played  the  part  of  the  sick  man 
seated  in  the  carriage  with  a  crutch,  and  not  able  to  go  into 
the  bank.  He  is  notorious  as  escaping  from  the  Ludlow  Street 
jail,  July  4,  1895,  with  Harry  Russell  and  Charles  Allen,  then 
ITnited  States  prisoners.  He  was  in  many  "sneak"  robberies  in 
the  United  States,  and  one  which  I  especially  recall  was  the 
theft  of  $22,000  by  him  from  the  First  National  Bank,  Plain- 
field,  N.  J7,  on  July  2,  1895.  He  was  accompanied  by  George 
Carson,  "Sid"  Yennie  and  Little  Patsy  Flaunigan.  Yennie, 
Carson  and  Killoran  held  the  attention  of  the  employes  while 
Flannigan  committed  the  robbery.  x4fter  Killoran's  escape 
from  Ludlow  Street  jail  he  fled  to  Europe,  and,  strangely 
enough,  met  with  an  accident  which  necessitated  the  amputa- 
tion of  one  of  his  legs,  which  made  him  in  reality  carry  a 
crutch  until  those  he  operated  with  supplied  him  with  a  wooden 
leg. 

He  was  arrested  about  two  years  ago  in  New  York  City,  de- 
cidedly broken  in  health,  and  was  sent  to  Illinois  to  serve  a 
term  for  robbing  the  government  postoffice  at  Springfield. 
After  his  release  he  returned  to  Europe,  and  was,  in  September, 
1905,  arrested  at  Vienna  for  stealing  $100,000  from  a  depositor 
in  front  of  the  paying  teller's  window  in  the  bank  in  that  city, 
and  was,  on  March  19,  1906,  sentenced  to  six  years  in  an  Aus- 


BURGLAEY  A  SCIENCE  339 

trian  prison.  It  looks  as  though  he  had  committed  his  last 
robbery,  and  that  this  crime  will  cause  him  to  end  his  days  in 
prison. 

The  Hotel  Sneak. 
The  Use  of  False  Keys. 

"Hod"  Bacon  is  an  illustration  of  the  professional  "sneak"' 
who  confines  his  operations  more  particularl}^  to  the  rooms  of 
hotel  guests.  He  works  systematically  and  prepares  his  plans 
as  the  skilled  detective  works  to  capture  the  expert  criminal. 
This  thief  frequently  would  follow  a  victim  thousands  of  miles 
to  commit  a  successful  robbery.  He  would  watch  hotel  guests 
continuously  for  several  days,  until  he  observed  them  purchase 
theater  tickets  or  going  out  for  the  evening,  first  determining 
how  many  (if  a  family)  occupied  the  apartment,  and  how  many 
servants  they  had,  and  assuring  himself  before  committing  the 
robbery  they  were  all  absent.  He  enters  the  rooms  with  false 
keys,  locks  himself  in,  and  works  at  his  leisure;  also  unlocks, 
with  false  keys,  the  trunks,  bureau  drawers,  etc.,  abstracting  from 
them  such  valuables  as  he  considers  worth  taking.  He  in- 
variably takes  from  the  ladies'  trunks  some  ladies'  wearing 
apparel,  endeavoring  to  cast  the  suspicion  that  the  theft  was 
committed  by  a  chambermaid  or  other  employes  in  the  hotel 
having  access  to  the  apartment.  On  one  occasion  Bacon  robbed 
a  t]-aveling  jewelry  salesman's  trunk  in  a  Chicago  hotel,  l^ot 
satisfied  with  the  valuable  loot  of  jewelry  he  obtained,  he  stole 
the  salesman's  overcoat,  after  which  he  secured  sleeping  car 
passage  from  Chicago  to  Pittsburg  via  Pennsylvania  railroad. 
On  the  same  evening's  train,  it  so  happened  that  the  salesman 
he  robbed  was  then  enroute  east,  and,  peculiarly  enough,  had 
been  assigned  a  berth  opposite  the  thief,  in  the  same  car. 
After  the  train  left  Chicago,  observing  his  stolen  overcoat 
hanging  in  the  thief's  section,  he  telegraphed  to  Pittsburg, 
and  on  arrival  of  the  train  the  thief  was  arrested,  and  identified 
as  "Hod"  Bacon. 


340 


BURGLAKY  A  SCIENCE 


@»«<1 


CASE    OF    TOOLS    AND    RELICS    COLLECTED  BY  DBTEOTTTir  W0OLT7BISQB 

CAPTURED  BURGLARY  IMPLEMENTS  AT  .CENTRAL  POLICE  SIATIfiH 


CELL  TERMS  FOR  '^CON"  MEN. 


FOUR  ARE  SENTENCED  FOR 

LONG  "GRAFT"  RECORDS. 

P.  L,  Tuohy,  Philip  Bulfer  and  L.  E.  Burnett  Are  Found 
Guilty  of  Systematic  Fraud  by  Means  of  "Fake"  Con- 
tracts— Their  Clerk  Is  Fined  $250 — Many  Poor  People 
Appear  As  Witnesses  on  Fraudulent  Employment 
Bureau  Also  Operated. 

June  11,  1907,  one  of  the  most  persistent  and  systematic 
"confidence"  gangs  that  ever  operated  in  Chicago  was  broken 
np  for  a  few  years  at  least,  when  Patrick  L.  Tuohy,  Philip 
Bulfer,  L.  E.  Burnett,  and  J.  C.  Daubach  were  found  guilty 
of  ol)taining  money  under  false  pretenses  by  a  jury  in  Judge 
Ball's  court. 

These  men  were  organizers  and  managers  of  the  Chicago 
Mercantile  and  Reporting  Agency,  with  offices  at  171  Wash- 
ington Street.  It  was  a  "fake"  employment  agency  Avith  a 
side  line  of  swindling  by  means  of  getting  contracts  on  carbon 
paper.  Bulfer,  Tuohy  and- Burnett  were  sentenced  to  the  peni- 
tentiary, while  Daubach,  who  was  only  a  clerk,  was  fined  $250. 
The  sentence  in  prison  is  from  one  to  five  years. 

Triumph  for  Wooldridge. 

The  conviction  was  a  triumph  for  Detective  Clifton  R. 
Wooldridge  who  has  followed  the  men  for  years.  The  raid 
which  resulted  in  the  present  trial  was  made  by  Wooldridge 
and  his  men  on  February  1],  1906. 


343  CELL  TEEMS  FOK  *-COX"'  MEX 

Philip  Bulfer.  Bulfcr's  pedigree  from  his  home  town  is  in- 
teresting. Philip  Bulfer  was  born  and  raised  at  Marshalltown, 
Iowa.  His  parents  live  there  and  have  for  fort}'  years.  The 
young  man  was  educated,  and  when  still  a  j'oung  man  left 
for  Omaha,  Neb.  There  he  started  in  business  with  his  brother, 
and  in  a  short  course  of  time  they  were  doing  a  good  business, 
but  finally  broke  up  in  a  dispute  with  his  brother,  resulting 
in  a  "skin." 

Later  on  he  became  a  messenger  for  some  express  compan\. 
operating  on  B.  7  ^l.  in  Nebraska,  and  he  ran  through  tlu' 
State  of  Iowa  for  a  good  many  years.  He  left  that  job  or  was 
discharged. 

He  left  there  anyway  and  finally  came  to  Chicago  and  mar- 
ried a  school  teacher  by  the  name  of  Mrs.  Crar}^,  from  Goshen, 
Tnd.  x\fter  marriage  he  moved  to  Chicago  Heights  and  edited 
a  paper  there  for  some  time.  Moved  back  to  Chicago  and  be- 
came a  reporter  on  the  Chicago  Times,  and  finally  started  in 
a  loan  shark  business,  loaning  money  at  reduced  rates  and 
making  it  a  business  to  fight  loan  sharks,  loaning  money  on 
personal  property,  afterward  going  into  court  and  enjoining 
them. 

He  finally  was  arrested  on  many  charges  before  Justice  of 
the  Peace  Fred  E.  Eldred,  at  Logan  Square,  on  charges  of 
obtaining  money  by  false  pretenses,  embezzlement,  larceny  and 
on  many  other  counts. 

Was  held  to  the  grand  jury  and  indicted  in  the  case  of 
Detrich,  which  was  finally  nolle  prossed  before  Judge  Stein, 
after  making  a  settlement  with  Detrich,  who  promised  not  to 
prosecute  and  was  taken  care  of  so  he  could  not  be  com- 
])elled  to  appear  as  a  witness  in  the  Criminal  Court.  This 
occurred  about  1897  or  1898. 

He  was  also  indicted  one  time  for  assault  or  attempt  to 
kill  Oscar  or  Frank  Arnold.  Another  compromise  was  made. 
Many  times  he  was  arrested  before  difFerent  justices:  Under- 
wood, Wolff,  Hogland,  Woods,  Prindiville,  Cavcrly  and  manv 


CELL  TEKM.S  FOK  '"CON"  MEN  U3 

others.  Cages  were  disposed  of  in  some  way.  He  was  held 
to  the  grand  jur}-  many  times,  and  finally  was  arrested  charged 
•with  conspiracy  to  cheat  and  defraud  a  school  teacher.  Was 
indicted  and  had  an  accomplice — Theodore  D,  Courtney. 

He  was  convicted  and  sentenced  for  three  years.  Was  taken 
to  the  penitentiary  and  there  served  as  hookkeeper  and  tally- 
man for  about  five  months.  Later  was  released  from  the 
penitentiary  on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  by  Judge  Farlin  Q. 
Ball,  Was  taken  to  the  county  jail,  his  case  being  continued 
from  time  to  time,  meanwhile  was  obliged  to  remain  in  jail 
for  about  a  year.  Arrangements  were  made  that  if  he  gave 
evidence  to  indict  John  W,  Eonksle}^  Thomas  D,  Courtney  and 
Isaac  A,  Hartman,  the  State's  x4ttomey's  office  would  in  some 
way  be  lenient  with  him,  and  this  he  did.  He  gave  evidence 
that  caused  the  indictment  of  the  aforesaid  persons. 

They  were  afterwards  placed  on  trial.  Eonksley  was  fined 
$100  and  sentenced  to  six  months  in  the  county  jail  by  Judge 
Horton. 

Hartman  was  indicted  several  times  in  the  same  proceed- 
ing and  placed  on  trial  before  Judge  Horton  and  was  ac- 
quitted. Many  indictments  against  Bulfer  have  been  nolle 
prossed,  due  to  a  settlement  of  some  kind. 

The  records  will  show  that  they  have  been  nolle  prossed. 
The  Detrich  case  will  show  dismissal  for  want  of  prosecution, 
but  it  was  really  on  account  of  settlement  having  been  made. 
After  these  defendants  were  convicted  he  was  released  without 
ever  having  a  hearing  on  the  habeas  corpus  matter  and  gained 
his  liberty  on  account  of  the  state  losing  jurisdiction.  Since 
organizing  the  Landlords'  Protective  Association  he  was  ar- 
rested on  complaint  of  A.  D,  Smeyer  before  either  Caverly  or 
Prindiville  at  the  Harrison  Street  Police  Station  and  there 
discharged  on  account  of  no  prosecution.  It  was  brought 
about  by  a  settlement. 

The  arrest  was  made  on  account  of  his  taking  $3  appearance 
fee,  which  he  should  have  paid  and  filed  appearance  in  the 


344  CELL  TERMS  FOR  "CON"  MEK 

Circuit  Court  in  the  cape  of  Chicago  Preps,  R.  D.  Smeyers 
vs.  Barry  Transportation  Co.  He  was  arrested  a  great  many 
times  for  obtaining  money  by  false  pretenses  from  poor  and 
ignorant  people,  who  gave  him  $3  to  get  them  a  job.  but  he 
failed  to  do  so. 

Patrick  L.  Tuohy  was  born  in  Ireland ;  came  to  Chicago 
about  forty  years  ago  and  located  in  Rogers  Park. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  School  r>oard  at  one  time.  He  is 
a  politician.  He  is  a  professional  bondsman  and  is  manager 
of  the  Chicago  Mercantile  &  Reporting  Agency,  also  an  em- 
ployment and  collection  agency  and  professional  bond  agency 
at  171  Washington  street.  They  take  a  fee  of  from  $2  to  $3 
and  agree  to  get  employment,  Init  few  are  ever  employed.  This 
money  is  put  into  his  pocket. 

He  has  been  engaged  in  many  questionable  concerns.  Among 
them  he  and  his  pals  secured  a  charter  for  the  U^nited  States 
Express  Company  and  tried  to  shake  down  the  company  and 
prohibit  them  from  doing  business  in  the  State  of  Hlinois. 
Tlie  matter  was  taken  into  court  and  a  Federal  injunction 
issued  against  them. 

'  They  have  a  habit  of  looking  up  firms,  for  instance,  say 
the  Blackenberg  Express  Company,  and  get  someone  to  do 
business  with  them,  then  they  will  go  in  and  see  if  they 
use  a  corporate  title  and  force  them  to  settle  in  some  way. 

Bulfer  and  Tuohy  were  proprietors  of  the  Chicago  ^ler- 
cantile  &  Reporting  Agency ;  Daubach  was  a  clerk  in  the  office 
and  Burnett  was  a  solicitor  for  the  company. 

Bulfer  Avas  the  apparent  head  of  the  concern — in  fact  the 
!)rains  and  dominating  spirit. 

Tuohy's  name  a])peared  as  manager  on  the  lotterhoads  of 
the  company  aiul  lie  was  ])laintifT  in  all  suits  brought  upon 
alleged  contracts. 

Burnett,  as  solicitor,  called  upon  small  merchants  and  so- 
licited   accounts   for   collection    upon    representation    that   the 


CELL  TERMS  FOR  '-COX"  MEN"  345 

Chicago  Mercantile  &  Reporting  Agency  wonld  deduct  25  per 
cent  in  ease  of  collection. 

If  a  merchant  gave  Burnett  some  bills  to  collect  he  (Bur- 
nett) would  ask  the  merchant  to  sign  his  name  on  a  piece  of 
paper  "giving  authority  to  the  Chicago  Mercantile  &  Reporting 
Agency  to  collect.  Or  if  a  merchant  upon  Avhom  Burnett 
called  would  say  he  had  no  bills,  Bnrnett  would  secure  his 
signature  upon  representation  that  he  must  show  his  com- 
pany that  he  had  called  upon  him  and  solicited. 

Each  witness  with  but  one  exception  testified  that  no  con- 
tract was  shown  him  and  that  he  Avas  not  told  by  Birnett 
that  in  signing  his  name  he  was  putting  it  to  a  contract  to 
furnish  the  company  with  at  least  25  valid  claims  during  the 
next  thirty  days  following  and  to  pay  the  company  a  fee  of 
$20. 

Louis  Perlman,  the  complainant-witness  in  the  case  tried, 
testified  that  he  gave  Burnett  a  claim  for  $2  to  collect  and 
at  the  solicitation  of  Burnett  signed  his  name  to  a  paper 
giving  authority  (as  explained  by  Burnett)  to  the  company  to 
collect.  Nothing  was  said  to  him  about  a  contract,  but  at 
the  expiration  of  30  days  he  received  a  letter  from  the  Chi- 
cago Mercantile  &  Reporting  Agency,  signed  P.  L.  Tuohy, 
manager,  that  he  was  indebted  to  the  company  in  the  sum 
of  $20.  ITpon  calling  at  their  offices  to  ascertain  the  cause  of 
such  indebtedness  he  was  shown  a  contract  signed  by  himself, 
agreeing  to  furnish  the  company  25  claims  and  obligating 
himself  to  pay  $20  on  that  day.  The  victims  were  all  men 
and  women  of  the  poorer  classes,  mostly  small  shopkeepers, 
and  such  tradesmen  in  the  outlying  districts. 

Perlman  said  that  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  seen  the 
contract,  for  when  he  signed  his  name  at  the  request  of 
Burnett  there  was  no  printing  in  sight  and  nothing  was  said 
about  a  contract.  Although  Perlman  had  given  but  one  claim 
to  the  agent  of  the  company,  and  that  for  the  sum  of  $2, 
which  had  never  been  collected,  he  was  threatened  with  suit  by 


346  CELL  TERMS  FOIJ    ■COS"  MEN 

Bulfcr  when  lie  called  at  the  office  of  the  company,  and  finally 
compromised  by  the  payment  of  $5,  Xo  service  had  been  ren- 
dered him  whatever  and  yet  he  was  compelled  to  give  up  $5 
to  have  the  alleged  contract  canceled. 

The  state  called  about  17  witnesses,  all  of  whom  had  similar 
experiences  to  that  of  Perlman.  Several  testified  that  they 
told  Burnett  they  had  no  bills  to  give  him,  but  at  his  request 
signed  their  names  so  that  the  company  could  know  how- 
many  people  he  had  called  upon  in  the  course  of  a  day,  and 
yet  each  was  notified  at  the  expiration  of  30  days  that  he  or 
she  was  indebted  to  the  Chicago  ^fercantile  &  Reporting 
Agency  in  the  sum  of  $20,  and  each  was  compelled  to  pay 
from  $5  to  $12  to  have  the  alleged  contract  canceled,  although 
no  service  had  been  rendered  to  any  of  them. 

One  witness  testified  that  he  had  refused  to  compromise 
and  he  was  sued  before  a  justice  of  the  peace  friendly  to  the 
company  and  judgment  was  rendered  against  him  for  $20  and 
costs,  amounting  in  all  to  $2G.50,  for  which  no  services  were 
performed  and  for  which  he  got  not  the  slightest  return. 

Daubach  was  merely  a  clerk  in  the  office,  but  when  a  victim 
called  at  the  office  in  response  to  a  letter  signed  by  Tuohy, 
Daubach  would  tell  him  the  amount  must  be  paid,  although 
the  victim  would  declare  to  him  no  service  had  been  rendered 
to  him  and  that  he  had  no  knowledge  that  he  had  signed  a 
contract.  The  victim  would  then  ask  to  see  ^Ir.  Tuohy  and 
Daubach  would  take  him  to  Bulfer's  desk  and  say,  "This  is 
^rr.  Tuohy,"  and  the  victim  would  have  to  settle  or  submit  to 
!i  judgment  on  the  alleged  contract  at  the  hands  of  the  justice 
of  the  peace  friendly  to  the  company. 

Although  the  indictment  charged  a  conspiracy  to  obtain  the 
signature  of  one  Louis  Perlman  to  a  written  instrument,  the 
state  introduced  evidence,  and  righl  fully  so,  to  show  similar 
nets  of  the  conspirators. 

It  was  demonstrated  clearly  by  the  evidence  that  Bulfer  was 
the  leading  spirit  of  the  conspiracy;  that  Tuohy's  name  ap- 


CELL  TERMS  FOR  "CON"  MEN  347 

peared  on  the  letterheads  as  manager  and  all  letters  sent  to 
victims  bore  his  signature;  that  Burnett  got  signatures  by 
means  of  false  pretenses,  for  each  witness  claimed  that  the 
'^contract  was  covered  up  and  they  were  shown  just  the  part 
of  the  paper  on  which  was  the  space  for  signature;  and  Dau- 
bach performed  many  acts  in  furtherance  of  the  conspiracy. 

Bulfer  and  Tuohy  did  not  go  upon  the  witness  stand.  Bur- 
nett testified  that  he  always  showed  the  full  contract  to  pros- 
pective clients,  but  was  not  called  upon  to  explain  its  con- 
tents; he  testified  further  that  he  received  from  the  Chicago 
Mercantile  &  Reporting  Agency  $2.50  for  each  contract  he 
brought  in  and  he  secured  as  high  as  six  a  day. 

Daubach  testified  that  when  the  objectors  came  into  the 
office  and  complained  he  would  tell  them  they  could  com- 
promise and  get  off  cheaper  and  admitted,  turning  them  over 
to  Bulfer  when  they  asked  for  Tuohy. 

So  that  it  appeared  conclusively  that  each  in  his  turn  per- 
formed some  act  in  furtherance  of  the  conspiracy. 

The  case  was  called  for  trial  on  the  6th  of  May,  1907,  and 
was  concluded  on  the  8th  of  May,  1907.  The  jury  returned  » 
verdict  of  guilty  as  to  each  and  fixed  the  punishment  of 
Bulfer,  Tuohy  and  Burnett  at  imprisonmnent  in  the  peniten- 
tiary, and  fixed  the  punishment  of  Daubach  at  a  fine  of  $250. 


PANEL  HOUSE  THIEVES. 


Among  the  many  dangerous  and  curious  characters  who  live 
by  their  wits  in  a  great  city  none  is  more  interesting  to  the 
outsider  than  the  blackmailer.  To  the  reader  of  sensational 
literature  the  ideal  is  a  person  who  holds  some  great  family 
secret  which  he  turns  into  money  at  rapidly  narrowing  inter- 
vals. Although  this  character  is  generally  overdrawn,  no  one 
familiar  with  city  life  pretends  to  doubt  his  existence.  The 
blackmailer  is  a  well  known  character  in  all  large  cities,  and 
certainly  the  arch  swindler  of  the  day. 

Blackmailers  are  ever  on  the  alert  to  learn  anything  detri- 
mental to  a  person's  character,  and  let  them  once  obtain  this, 
they  fatten  on  it.  Men's  passions  are  taken  advantage  of  by 
that  particular  class  of  thieves  known  as  "badgers,*'  and  their 
operations  are  very  rarely  followed  by  exposure  or  punishment. 
A  pretty  woman  is  the  bait  used  by  these  thoughtful  rascals, 
who  know  full  well  that  where  a  hundred  men  ^vill  resist  a 
burglar,  scarcely  one  will  resist  a  robbery  where  disgraceful 
publicity  must  surely  follow. 

Briefly  the  mode  of  procedure  is  as  follows:  A  house  is 
rented  in  a  quiet  side  street,  not  far  from  the  principal  thor- 
oughfare. One  man,  occasionally  two  men,  run  the  house — that 
is,  they  do  the  actual  stealing,  while  they  have  from  three  and 
often  as  high  as  a  dozen  women  out  on  the  street  picking  up 
the  victims. 

Must  Have   I^ijetty  Woman. 

The  qualifications  necessary  for  the  woman  to  have  is  to  bo 
pretty,  plump,  wear  good  clothes,  and  understand  the  art  of 
making  herself  attractive.  It  is  an  understood  thing  that  she 
shares  one-third  the  proceeds  of  the  robbery.  The  house  is 
arranged  especially  for  the  purpose.  Tlie  rooms  on  each  floor 
are  fixed  so  that  the  door  separating  thorn  has  the  panels  cut  out 
and  put  in  again  on  hinges,  and  fastened  with  a  small  button 
not  notiooablo.     Tho  binges  aro  well  oilod.  and  a  small  Imlr  is 


PANEL  HOUSE  THIEVES  349 

bored  through  the  door,  so  that  the  thief  can  see  into  the  room, 
or  hear  any  slight  signal  given  by  the  woman.  The  house 
rented  has  a  front  and  rear  entrance,  the  latter  for  the  thief 
or  thieves,  who  always  station  themselves  on  a  corner  of  the 
street  near  the  house,  by  which  the  woman  will  always  bring 
the  victim,  so  her  pal  can  see  him. 

The  woman  goes  out  in  the  evening  past  the  principal  hotels 
and  through  the  principal  streets,  never  speaking  to  a  man,  but 
if  she  notices  one  who  looks  like  a  stranger  and  well-to-do,  she 
will  give  him  a  coquettish  glance  and  pass  on,  looking  sideways 
to  see  if  she  is  followed.  If  so,  she  will  continue  slowly,  turning 
the  first  quiet  street,  until  the  man  who  follows  her  has  a 
chance  to  overtake  her.  The  chances  are  ten  to  one  that  he 
will  address  her.  She  will  appear  shy  at  first,  and  not  in- 
clined to  speak,  but  after  a  short  time  she  will  talk,  and  after 
some  conversation  she  will  convey  the  idea  to  the  man  that 
she  is  a  married  woman;  that  her  husband  is  out  of  town 
and  no  one  is  at  home.  If  he  will  be  discreet  he  may  accom- 
pany her  home,  she  says,  and  have  a  talk.  The  pair  then 
walk  to  the  house,  passing  the  corner  where  the  male  accom- 
plice is  lying  in  wait,  and  the  woman,  pulling  out  her  latch- 
key, will  open  the  door;  and  the  fly  is  in  the  parlor  of  the 
spider. 

The  male  thief  waits  a  few  moments,  and  then  makes  his 
way  into  the  house  through  the  rear.  As  soon  as  he  enters 
he  takes  off  his  shoes  and  in  his  stocking  feet  stations  himself 
in  the  adjoining  room,  and  there  bides  his  time.  The  woman 
is  all  smiles  and  affection.  She  betrays  an  affected  nervous- 
ness, which  makes  her  all  the  more  attractive.  She  talks  about 
the  sudden  fancy  she  took  to  the  gentleman  who  was  weak 
enough  to  be  inveigled,  and  in  a  thousand  and  one  ways  man- 
ages to  give  the  idea  that  he  is,  above  all  others,  the  very  man 
she  could  love.  All  this  time  she  is  gradually  disrobing,  and 
at  the  expiration  of  about  ten  minutes  she  is  ready  to  do  her 
part  in  the  robbery. 


350  PAN-KL  HOUSE  THIEVES 

Male  AccoisrPLiCEs  Get  Busy. 

Meantime  her  male  accomplice  has  put  on  his  shoes.  He 
goes  around  to  the  front  of  the  house,  opens  the  front  door 
noisily,  and,  walking  heavily,  he  knocks  loudly  at  the  room 
door,  and  calls  out,  "Mary !"  or  any  name  that  may  suggest 
itself.  The  woman  will  at  once  exclaim,  '"Oh,  that  is  my  hus- 
band !  Dress  yourself  quickly,  and  be  ready  to  go  out  as  soon 
as  I  get  him  away  from  the  room  door." 

The  victim  will  hastily  put  on  his  clothes,  and  as  soon  as 
the  woman  slips  out  and  gives  him  the  signal  he  escapes,  only 
too  glad  not  to  be  caught.  Before  he  goes,  however,  and  while 
he  is  talking  to  the  woman,  her  pal  has  opened  the  panel,  put 
his  hand  in  all  the  victim's  pockets — (his  clothes  having  been 
put  in  front  of  the  door),  and  nearly  all  his  money  is  taken. 
A  portion  is  left,  so  that  he  may  not  immediately  discover  his 
loss.  Jewelry  is  never  disturbed,  as  it  would  be  missed  at  once. 
The  favorite  motliods  is  to  take  out  the  middle  of  a  roll  of 
notes,  if  in  a  roll,  or  if  in  a  pocket  book,  the  bottom  notes  arc 
removed,  so  that  when  the  victim  examines  his  purse  hurriedly 
he  will  not  discover  that  he  has  been  robbed.  If  the  amount 
ttolen  is  large  the  house  is  vacated,  and  the  woman  skips  the 
town  for  a  time. 

The  women  who  Avork  for  these  badger  houses  work  in  one 
city  for  a  liTm-.  llien  go  to  the  next  large  city  with  a  note  to 
the  chief  who  runs  llie  house  there.  The  women  generally 
wear  wigs,  so  in  ease  the  man  reports  his  loss  to  the  police  he 
will,  perhaps,  describe  a  fair-haired  woman,  when  i)erhaps  her 
hair  is  black.    A  blonde  wig  is,  discarded,  the  case  is  fixed. 

A  female  badger  and  her  lover  may  be  poor  and  unable  to 
rent  a  house.  In  this  event  they  will  rent  a  furnished  room 
in  a  furnished-room  house.  The  bolt  on  the  door  is  fixed  by 
simply  taking  out  the  screws  from  the  no.«e  of  the  bolt,  and 
the  screw  holes  are  enlarged.  The  screws  arc  well  greased  and 
then  put  back,  the  key  taken  out  of  the  lock,  so  when  the  time 
come*^  for  the  Ilii<'f  to  <ro  in.  ns  jirevions^lv  de^eribrd,  bo  pushes 


PANEL  HOUSE  THIEVES  351 

in  the  d'oor  easily  and  quietly,  as  the  hinges  are  well  oiled,  and 
the  victim  is  robbed  while  he  is  making  violent  love  to  the  sup- 
posed "married  woman." 

The  Phot:octRAPhic  Catch. 

Only  a  downright  fool  or  egotist  can  become  the  victim  of 
this  scheme.  He  deserves  to  lose  whatever  he  has  if  he  is 
foolish  enough  to  be  taken  in.  The  only  way  to  protect  your- 
selves against  the  work  of  these  thieves  is  to  mind  your  own 
business. 

The  new  panel  and  blackmail  swindle  called  the  "Photo- 
graphic Catch"  is  one  by  which  dupes  are  frightened  into  pay- 
ing hush-money,  and  otherwise  putting  themselves  in  the  hands 
of  unscrupulous  and  designing  people. 

The  old  panel  game  has  been  brought  up  to  date  and  is  being 
worked  vigorously.  This  new  swindle  is  one  of  the  coolest 
"bluffs"  ever  attempted  to  be  worked  upon  an  unsuspecting 
person. 

The  victim  selected  by  the  coterie  of  choice  spirits  who  work 
this  fraud  is  always  a  married  man.  The  blackmailers  learn 
about  his  habits,  and  if  his  wife  and  family  have  removed  to 
the  country  they  immediately  set  about  landing  him  in  their 
net.  If  the  family  remains  in  town  the  swindlers  spot  their 
man  and  wait  until  his  wife  and  children  go  to  the  country  or 
seashore,  leaving  him  to  "work  himself  to  death"  in  the  bad, 
wicked  city. 

The  bait  used  is  a  handsome  young  woman.  She  soon  iinds 
an  opportunity  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  victim,  who  is 
always  a  business  man,  generally  of  middle  age  and  wealthy,  for 
upon  handsome  but  penniless  clerks  they  do  not  waste  a  moment 
of  their  time. 

As  soon  as  the  intended  victim  has  taken  the  bait  he  is  en- 
ticed to  some  luxuriously  furnished  apartment.  It  makes  not 
the  slighest  difference  how  long  he  may  stay  there,  and  it  is 
not  even  important  what  he  may  do  there. 

In  the  course  of  a  day  or  two  the  victim  is  called  upon  at 


35"^  i'AALL  iluLsE  TH1E\E>) 

his  place  of  business  by  a  tall,  well-dressed  young  man  of  gen- 
tlemanly manners,  but  with  much  firmness.  This  is  one  of  th.' 
conspirators.  He  secures  a  ^jrivate  intei-view  with  his  unsus- 
pecting victim,  and  as  soon  as  the  door  is  closed  he  proceeds  to 
outline  his  little  game. 

He  pulls  from  his  pocket  an  alleged  instantaneous  photo- 
graph showing  the  victim  in  a  compromising  position,  and  for 
the  sake  of  appearances,  make  some  broad  hints  about  his  out- 
raged feelings  as  a  husband.  It  very  soon  develops  that  these 
outraged  feelings  can  be  assuaged  by  the  payment  of  money, 
and  the  sum  mentioned  is  always  a  large  one. 

Scare  Money  Out  of  Victim. 

The  victim  is  thrown  into  a  state  of  fright  by  threats  of 
exposure  liberally  made  by  the  conspirators,  and  freely  "gives 
up''  in  order  to  put  a  stop  to  the  matter.  He  gets  a  consid- 
erable reduction  upon  the  original  sum  demanded  by  paying 
down  the  cash. 

Now,  while  this  game  is  nearly  always  successful,  it  require^ 
but  a  moment's  reflection  on  the  part  of  any  intelligent  man  to 
see  that  it  is  a  swindle,  pure  and  simple,  the  exposure  of  which 
would  put  a  stop  to  it.  The  payment  of  the  money  is  compelled 
by  displaying  a  photograph,  with  threats  of  sending  it  to  the 
victim's  wife. 

Anybody  who  knows  anything  about  photogra])hy  will  see 
at  once  that  such  a  photograph  must  })e  fraudulent.  It  is  im- 
possible to  take  an  instantaneous  photograph  in  a  room  without 
a  flashlight.  It  is  likewise  impossible  to  ]ihotograph  the  in- 
terior of  a  room  lighted  by  gas  without  a  very  long  exposure, 
and  generally  extending  over  hours.  No  court  of  law  would 
place  any  reliance  upon  an  alleged  instantaneous  photograph, 
of  the  inside  of  a  house  professing  to  show  people  who  were 
unconscious  that  thoy  were  being  photographed.  If  any  such 
picture  were  to  be  used  as  a  means  of  establishing  evidence  in 
court  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  person  so  producing  it  would  get 
into  prison  as  an  impudent  impostor. 


PANEL  HO  USE  THIEVES  353 

The  photograph  which  is  used  by  the  gang  working  this  new- 
panel  game  is,  of  course,  a  fraud  made  up  by  the  conspirators. 
It  is  an  easy  enough  thing  for  them  to  secure  a  picture  of  the 
interior  of  the  room,  showing  another  person.  But  in  order  to 
get  the  victim  into  the  picture  it  is  necessary  that  a  photograph 
be  taken  of  him  elsewhere ;  probably  in  the  street. 

Then  his  features  are  pasted  on  the  photograph  of  the  room, 
which  is  again  placed  before  the  camera  and  reproduced  com- 
plete. No  matter  how  skillfully  such  piecing  is  done,  it  always 
shows  to  the  practiced  eye,  and  any  professional  photographer 
can  detect  the  fraud. 

With  the  guilty  knowledge  of  such  swindling  in  mind, 
the  conspirators  who  impudently  produce  such  pictures  can 
easily  be  "turned  down"  by  a  brief  explanation  of  their  crim- 
inal proceedings  and  a  threat  to  turn  them  over  to  the  police. 
They  confine  their  operations  to  gentlemen  who  have  been  in- 
discreet and  who  can  be  easily  frightened  into  paying  money 
to  prevent  a  scandal. 

Blackmail  the  Wife  as  Well. 

Blackmailing  the  wives  of  business  men  is  carried  on  to  quite 
an  extent,  and  it  is  astonishing  how  many  of  them  will  pay 
blackmailers  to  hush  up  something  that  really  amounts  to  noth- 
ing if  the  game  were  exposed.  If  you  refuse  to  pay  blackmail, 
that  usually  ends  it.  They  want  money,  and  when  they  fail  to 
get  it,  the  matter  drops. 

The  blackmailer  operates  on  women  in  this  manner :  A  man 
has  an  accomplice,  a  woman  who  passes  as,  and  probably  is,  his 
wife.  She  is  well  educated,  of  refined  appearance,  and  dresses 
fashionably  and  well.  The  two  work  together.  As  the  summer 
season  comes  on  the  wives  of  business  men,  who  cannot  leave 
business  themselves,  start  for  eastern  resorts  and  watering 
places,  the  woman  blackmailer  joins  the  exodus.  She  knows 
the  people  who  are  wealthy,  and  these  she  spots.  She  watches 
their  every  movement,  and  if  the  slightest  indiscretion  is  com- 
mitted it  does  not  escape  her  eye.    She  knows  the  names,  busi- 


354  PANEL  HOUSE  THIEVES 

ness,  and  homes  of  all  the  gentlemen  they  meet,  and  when  and 
where  they  meet  them. 

The  season  ended,  the  facts  she  has  obtained  are  in  the  hands 
of  the  male  partner,  and  he  studies  them.  Selecting  his  victim, 
he  arranges  to  meet  her,  as  if  by  chance,  usually  in  one  of  the 
loading  retail  establishments  of  the  city  where  she  resides.  He 
approaches  and  addresses  her  with  the  greatest  cordiality,  ex- 
pressing surprise  at  the  unexpected  meeting.  She  is  generally 
surprised,  and,  of  course,  fails  to  recognize  him.  Then  he  uses 
the  name  of  one  of  the  gentlemen  she  has  met  in  the  east,  re- 
calls w'ho  introduced  them,  where  tlie  meeting  occurred,  and, 
in  fact,  all  about  it.  Then  she  recalls  it,  or  thinks  she  does, 
and  it  ends  in  her  inviting  him  to  call  at  her  home.  Here  is 
the  web  quite  complete. 

He  calls,  and,  of  course,  when  her  husband  is  out,  and  may 
repeat  the  call  several  times.  Then  he  springs  the  trap.  Dur- 
ing one  of  his  visits  a  note  arrives  for  the  lady  ihreatening  dis- 
closures unless  paid,  sa}',  $100.  Even  if  innocent  of  any  wrong, 
the  woman  is  alarmed  and  shows  the  blackmailer  the  note.  He 
appears  greatly  alarmed  also,  declares  that  he  is  a  married  man, 
and  that  to  have  his  visits  known  would  ruin  him.  He  argues 
that  the  money  would  better  be  paid.  He  has  only  $40  about 
him,  but  if  the  hostess  will  advance  the  balance  of  course  she 
shall  lose  nothing.  She  does  it,  and  is  thereafter  in  the  power 
of  the  blackmailer. 

"Bogus  Detective"  Game. 
A  scamp,  claiming  to  be  a  detective,  often  visits  a  reputabl& 
business  man,  having  gained  knowledge  of  indiscretion  early 
in  life.  To  hush  it  up  they  will  demand  from  time  to  time 
money,  under  threats  of  exposure,  thus  causing  the  person  to 
.'  commit  crime  after  crime  to  satisfy  the  heartless  leech,  who 
never  stops  until  his  victim  is  ruined. 

\  In  a  similar  manner  does  the  alleged  detective  blackmail  a 
!man  who  has  committed  a  crime  and  who  has  been  imprisoned 
nor  it.  Upon  his  release  the  man  may  feel  like  reforming  and  be- 


PANEL  HOUSE  THIEVES  355 

coming  a  good  citizen  if  given  the  chance,  but  this  the  detective 
will  not  permit,  for  as  soon  as  he  notices  the  ex-convict  he  will 
say,  "Look  here,  young  fellow,  you  know  my  name  and  ad- 
dress, and  when  I  am  in  of  an  evening  I  want  you  to  come  and 
see  me  or  I'll  have  you  run  in."  The  fear  of  being  "run  in" 
forces  the  man  who  has  a  desire  to  do  right  to  steal  to  satisfy 
the  blackmailing  demands  of  this  corrupt  class  of  people.  If 
the  ex-convict  obtains  employment  he  is  worked  in  a  similar 
manner,  under  threats  of  exposure  to  his  employer,  and  so  forced 
to  steal,  and  then  the  smart  detective  will  exclaim,  "There  is 
no  reformation  in  that  fellow;  I  kneAV  he  would  steal.  He 
will  never  stop." 

Storekeeper  Scamps. 

One  of  the  most  contemptible  of  creatures  is  the  storekeeper 
who  has  caught  some  one  (who  has  the  appearance  of  having 
money),  stealing  some  trifling  article,  and  will  exclaim,  "Here, 
here !  I  have  had  stolen  three  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  goods 
by  some  one,  and  if  you  will  settle  for  all  I  have  had  stolen,  I 
will  let  up  on  you,  and  not  prosecute." 

These  cowardly  methods  are  simply  mentioned  to  show  to 
what  depths  of  meanness  some  men  will  descend,  and  are  not 
to  be  classed  with  the  professional  thief,  with  whom  stealing  is 
a  trade.  As  to  how  the  female  blackmailer  can  be  foiled,  the 
remedy  is  obvious,  and  no  man  who  possesses  proper  self-respect 
will  ever  become  a  victim. 

HoAv  Fake  "Journalists"  Work. 
The  blackmailer  first  obtains  some  information  about  the 
early  life  of  the  person  he  intends  to  approach,  and  there  are 
very  few  men  who  have  not,  in  their  youthful  days,  committed 
some  indiscretion  which  might  be  brought  against  them  after 
reaching  maturer  years.  An  escapade  with  a  woman,  or  a 
mischievous  boyish  prank  which  proved  "more  serious  than  was 
intended,  are  the  usual  indiscretions  selected,  and  there  can  al- 
ways be  found  plenty  of  gossips  who  are  only  too  willing  to 


856  PANEL  HOUSE  THIEVES 

relate  full  particular?.  The  information  thu?  obtained  is  writ- 
ten up  in  a  sensational  style,  and  is  taken  to  a  cheap  printing 
office,  where  it  is  put  in  type  for  a  trifling  cost. 

A  slip,  or  what  is  known  in  a  printing  office  as  a  "proof," 
is  then  printed,  and  armed  with  this  the  blackmailer  pays  a 
visit  to  the  person  he  intends  to  fleece.  He  represents  himself 
as  being  connected  with  a  reputable  newspaper,  and  says  that 
he  has  been  sent  to  get  the  "other  side  of  the  story,"  at  the 
same  time  producing  the  slip  on  which  is  printed  the  startling 
tale,  which,  if  made  public,  would  in  all  probability  seriously 
effect  the  social  standing  and  the  commercial  integrity  of  the 
intended  victim.  In  the  majority  of  cases  the  person  ap- 
proached will  at  once  inquire  how  much  the  newspaper  would 
pay  for  such  an  article,  and  the  reply  usually  is,  "From  twenty 
to  twenty-five  dollars."  "Suppose  I  pay  for  the  article  instead 
of  the  newspaper?"  says  the  victim,  "and  I  give  you  fifty  dol- 
lars, wouldn't  that  repay  you  for  your  troul)le  in  writing  the 
article  ?"  This  is  just  Avhat  the  blackmailer  has  been  waiting  for. 
He  hems  and  haws  for  awhile,  so  as  not  to  appear  too  anxious, 
or  for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  higher  bid,  but  the  interview 
usually  winds  up  in  his  securing  a  sum  of  money  to  suppress 
the  information. 

As  he  is  leaving  the  house  it  may  occur  to  the  victim  that  as 
long  as  the  story  is  known  to  the  editor  of  the  paper  there  may 
be  a  publication  anyhow,  and  on  this  point  he  makes  inquiry. 
"Oh,"  says  the  blackmailer,  "there  will  be  no  danger  of  that. 
I  will  report  that  I  have  fully  investigated  the  story,  and  that 
there  is  not  a  word  of  truth  in  it,  and,  of  course,  they  will  not 
dare  to  nm  the  risk  of  being  sued  for  heavy  damages  for  print- 
ing it." 

Few  "Beats"  Among  Reporters. 

There  is  no  necessity  for  any  man  being  victimized  by  the 
"newspaper  beat."  In  the  first  place,  no  reputable  newspaper 
ever  puts  a  damaging  story  in  type  before  every  side  of  it  has 
been   thoroughly   investigated.     The  very  fact   of   a   man   e\'- 


PANEL  HOUSE  THIEVES  357 

hibiting  a  "proof"  is  evidence  that  he  is  a  fraud  and  has  no 
7iewspaper  connection.  It  can  be  said  with  truth  that  the 
repertorial  profession  of  America  has  fewer  'T)eats'*  in  it  than 
any  other  profession  or  Ijusiness  that  can  be  mentioned.  The 
majority  of  reporters  arc  ambitious  to  gain  higher  positions, 
and  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  find  a  man  regularly  connected  with, 
a  newspaper  descending  to  such  trickery.  If  he  is  a  genuine 
reporter  he  will  exhibit  his  credentials,  and  should  he  be  as- 
signed to  investigate  a  story  that  effects  the  standing  of  a  re- 
spectable citizen,  and  be  offered  a  bribe,  he  would  imdoubtedly 
publish  that  fact  as  an  additional  proof  of  the  truth  of  what 
he  has  written.  The  treatment  for  this  kind  of  a  blackmailer 
is  to  kick  him  out  of  the  house,  and  bid  him  do  his  worse. 
Depend  upon  it,  the  "scandal"  will  never  become  public. 
The  New  York  "Way. 

They  watch  some  disreputable  resort  of  the  higher  order  until 
they  see  some  respectable  looking  man  or  woman  coming  out 
of  it.  Suppose  it  is  a  woman,  who  may  or  may  not  have  gone 
there  for  an  improper  purpose.  The  blackmailer  follows  her 
home,  thus  ascertaining  her  place  of  residence.  The  next  day 
he  calls  upon  her.    He  puts  on  an  air  of  deep  solemnity. 

"I  am  an  agent,"  says  he,  "employed  by  a  society  to  ascer- 
tain the  character  of  certain  suspected  houses.  I  saw  you  enter 
one  of  them  yesterday  and  know  that  you  remained  there  more 
than  an  hour.  You  know  its  character,  and  I  shall,  therefore,, 
subpoena  you  as  a  witness."  Then  he  puts  his  hand  in  his  in- 
side pocket,  as  if  to  get  the  subpoena. 

Of  course  he  hasn't  any,  but  the  woman  usually  faints  about 
this  time,  and  on  her.  recovering  is  usually  willing  to  take  the 
jewels  off  her  wrists  and  fingers,  if  she  has  no  money,  to  buy 
her  immunity  from  the  subpoena.  Once  she  makes  a  payment 
she  is  lost  and  has  to  continue  it  month  after  month,  and  year 
after  year,  till  some  kind  of  a  scandal  breaks  out  and  she  finds, 
with  shame  and  sorrow,  that  her  previous  payments  have  only: 
put  off  the  evil  day. 


GAMBLING  AND  CRIME. 


BEST    CURE    FOR    GAMBLING:      TEACH 

PUPILS  IN  SCHOOL  LAWS  OF  CHANCE. 

Gambling  Device  Swindle  Is  Exposed    in   the    Army    and 
Navy — The  Scope  of  Fraud  Is  World-Wide. 

There  Is  No  Such  Thing  As  An  Honest  Gambler — Suicides 
Are  Common — Gambling  Kings  Go  Broke,  and  Often 
Die  in  the  Poorhouse — It  Is  a  Hard,  Cold,  Brutal  Road 
the  Gambler  Travels— It  Ends  Badly. 

We  do  not  believe  that  many  young  men  DELIBERATELY 
take  np  the  gambler's  career.  They  drift  into  it  through  weak- 
ness, temptation  or  accident.  If  any  young  man  DOES  imag- 
ine that  in  the  gambler's  life  he  can  find  more  money,  less 
work  and  more  happiness  than  in  honest  living  and  honest 
work,  he  is  the  victim  of  a  dangerous  delusion. 

A  most  miserable  creature  is  the  gambler.  He  knows  him- 
self, and  therefore  he  hates  himself. 

No  man  can  gamble  and  be  honest,  even  with  his  friends, 
oven  with  his  family.  The  idea  of  the  gambler  is  to  get  from 
another  man  what  he  has  not  earned  from  that  man,  giving 
nothing  in  exchange.  And  when  a  man  spends  his  time  trying 
to  get  away  the  money  of  others  with  no  return  he  soon  drifts 
into  throwing  aside  ALL  honesty,  even  tlie  gambler's  brand. 

The  unsuccessful  gambler  is  one  of  the  worst  of  wrecks.  He 
runs  his  little  course  of  dissipation,  dishonesty,  cheating  and 
swindling.  He  is  over-matched  and  eliminated  by  the  bigger, 
keener,  self -controlled  gambler,  who  eats  him  up  as  the  big 
spider  eats  up   the  little   spider.      Hanging  around   saloons, 


GAMBLING  AND  CEIME 


359 


360  GAMBLING  AND  L'BIME 

begging  for  a  little  money  with  whicli  to  bet,  doing  the  dirty 
work  of  the  bigger  gamblers — ^that  is  the  fate  of  the  little 
gambling  cast-off.     He  is  not  worth  talking  al)out. 

The  gambler's  life  is  simply  the  life  of  a  criminal.  And, 
like  every  other  suecessfiil  criminal,  the  successful  gambler 
has  got  to  work  very  hard.  What  the  burglar  gets,  what  the 
pickpocket  gets,  what  the  gambler  gets,  is  money  painfully  ac- 
cumulated. The  successful  burglar,  or  pickpocket,  or  gambler 
must  work  hard  and  be  forever  on  the  alert.  He  must  be 
remorselessly  cruel  in  taking  money  from  those  that  cannot 
stand  the  loss.  He  must  be  indifferent  to  all  sense  of  decency, 
for  he  knows  that  he  is  robbing  women  and  children. 

The  criminal  in  AXY  line,  gambler  or  other,  cannot  be  a 
self-indulgent  man  if  he  is  to  be  successful.  Tlie  young  man 
who  imagines  that  the  gambler's  life  is  a  gay  and  easy  one  is 
badly  mistaken.  If  he  tries  it  he  will  live  to  envy  ANY  hon- 
est man  who  has  a  right  to  look  other  men  in  the  face. 

Why  Gambling  Makes  Mex  Commit  Crimes. 

The  statistics  of  crime  prove  beyond  all  cavil  that  gambling 
is  the  king's  highway  to  fraud  and  theft.  This  is  not  merely 
because  is  loosens  general  morality  and  in  particular  saps  the 
rationale  of  property,  but  because  cheating  is  inseparably  as- 
sociated with  most  actual  modes  of  gambling.  Tbis  does  not 
imply  that  most  persons  who  bet  are  actually  cheats  or  thieves ; 
but  persons  who  continue  to  be  cheated  or  robbed,  half  con- 
scious of  the  nature  of  the  operations,  are  fitting  themselves 
for  the  other  and  more  profitable  part  if  they  are  thro^^^l  in 
the  way  of  acquiring  a  sufficient  quantity  of  evil  skill  or  op- 
portunity. The  "lienor"  of  a  confirmed  gambler,  even  in  high 
life,  is  known  to  be  hollow  commodity,  and  where  there  is 
less  to  lose  in  social  esteem  even  this  slender  substitute  for 
virtue  is  absent.  What  percentage  of  "men  who  bet"  would 
refuse  to  utilize  a  secret  tip  of  a  "scratched"  favorite  or  tlu» 
contents  of  an  illegally  disclosed  sporting  telegram?    The  bar- 


GAMBLING  A  AD  t'KlME 


361 


362  GAMBLIXG  AND  CRIME 

rier  between  fraud  and  smartness  does  not  exist  for  most  of 
them. 

No  Basis  for  Livelihood. 

Serious  investigation  of  the  gambling  process  discloses  the 
fact  that  pure  gambling  does  not  afford  any  economic  basis  of 
livelihood,  save  in  a  few  cases  where,  as  at  the  roulette  tal)le  or 
in  a  lottery,  those  who  gamble  know  and  willingly  accept  the 
chances  against  them.  And  even  in  the  case  of  the  roulette 
table  the  profits  to  the  bank  come  largely  from  the  advantage 
which  a  large  fund  possesses  in  play  against  a  smaller  fund; 
in  the  fluctuations  of  the  game  the  smaller  fund  which  plays 
against  the  bank  is  more  than  likely  at  some  point  in  the  game 
to  be  absorbed  so  as  to  disable  the  player  from  continuing  his 
play. 

If  a  man  with  $5,000  were  to  play  "pitch  and  toss"  for  $5 
gold  pieces  with  a  number  of  men,  each  of  Avhom  carried  only 
$50,  he  must,  if  they  played  long  enough,  win  all  their  money. 
So,  even  where  skill  and  fraud  arc  absent,  economic  force  is  a 
large  factor  in  success. 

Te:\[ptatiox  to  Embezzle. 
Since  professional  gambling  in  a  stock  broker,  a  croupier,  a 
bookmaker,  or  any  other  species  involves  so'inc  use  of  superior 
knowledge,  trickery,  or  force,  which  in  its  effect  on  the  "chance'' 
amounts  to  "loading"  the  dice,  the  non-professional  gambler 
necessarily  finds  himself  a  loser  on  any  long  series  of  events. 
These  losses  are  found,  in  fact,  to  be  a  fruitful  cause  of  crime, 
especially  among  the  men  employed  in  business  where  sums 
of  money  belonging  to  the  firm  are  passing  through  their  hands. 
It  is  not  difficult  for  a  man  who  constantly  has  in  his  possession 
considerable  funds  which  he  has  collected  for  the  employer  to 
persuade  himself  that  a  temporary  use  of  these  funds,  which 
otherwise  lie  idle,  io  help  him  over  a  brief  emergency,  is  not 
an  act  of  real  dishonesty.  He  is  commonly  right  in  his  plea 
that  he  had  no  direct  intention  to  defriiud  liis  employer.     He 


GAMBLiM^;   A.\D  CKiME  363 

expected  to  be  able  to  replace  the  sum  before  its  withdrawal 
was  discovered.  But  since  legally  a  person  must  be  presumed 
to  "intend"  that  which  is  a  natural  or  reasonable  result  of 
his  action,  an  indirect  intention  to  defraud  must  be  ascribed 
to  him.  He  is  aware  that  his  act  is  criminal  as  well  as  illegal 
in  using  the  firm's  money  for  any  private  purpose  of  his  own. 
But  in  understanding  and  assessing  the  quality  of  guilt  in- 
volved in  such  action,  two  circumstances  which  extenuate  his 
act,  though  not  the  gambling  habit  which  has  induced  it,  must 
be  taken  into  account.  A  poor  man  who  frequently  bets  must 
sooner  or  later  be  cleared  out  and  unable,  out  of  his  own  re- 
sources, to  meet  his  obligations.  He  is  induced  to  yield  to 
the  temptation  the  more  readily  for  two  reasons.  First,  there 
is  a  genuine  probability  (not  so  large,  however,  as  he  thinks) 
that  he  can  replace  the  money  before  any  "harm  is  done." 
So  long  as  he  does  replace  it  no  harm  appears  to  him  to  have 
been  done;  the  firm  has  lost  nothing  by  his  action. 

How  Commerce  Condones  Crime. 

This  narrower  circumstance  of  extenuation  is  supported  by 
a  broader  one.  The  whole  theory  of  modern  commercial  en- 
terprise involves  using  other  people's  money,  getting  the  ad- 
vantage of  this  use  for  one's  self  and  paying  to  the  owner  as 
little  as  one  can. 

A  bank  or  a  finance  company  is  intrusted  with  sums  of  money 
belonging  to  outsiders  on  condition  that  when  required,  or  upon 
agreed  notice,  they  shall  be  repaid.  Any  intelligent  clerk  in 
such  a  firm  may  be  well  aware  that  the  profits  of  the  firm  are 
earned  by  a  doubly  speculative  use  of  this  money  which  be- 
longs to  other  people;  it  is  employed  by  the  firm  in  speculative 
investments  which  do  not  essentially  differ  from  betting  on  the 
turf,  and  the  cash  in  hand  or  other  available  assets  are  kept 
at  a  minimum  on  the  speculative  chance  that  depositors  will 
not  seek  to  withdraw  their  money,  as  they  are  legally  entitled 
to  do.     In  a  firm  which  thus  lives  by  speculating  with  other 


364 


ClAMBLiXU  AXL)  CKLME 


people's  money,  is  it  surprising  tlial  a  clerk  slioiikl  pursue  what 
seems  to  him  substantially  the  same  policy  on  a  smaller  scale? 
It  may  doubtless  be  objected  that  a  vital  difference  exists  in  the 
two  cases:  the  investor  who  puts  his  money  into  the  hands  of 


(iA.MBLlNi;   ANJ)  CI^JME  ;3G5 

a  speculative  eompaiiv  does  .'^o  knowingly,  and  for  some  ex- 
pected profit;  the  clerk  Avho  speculates  with  the  firm's  money 
does  so  secretly,  and  no  possible  gain  to  the  firm  balances  the 
chance  of  loss.  But  even  to  this  objection  it  is  possible  to  reply 
that  recent  revelations  of  modern  finance  show  that  real  knowl- 
edge of  the  use  to  which  money  will  be  put  cannot  be  imputed 
to  the  investor  in  such  companies,  and  that,  though  some  gain 
may  j)Ossibly  accrue  to  him,  such  gain  is  essentially  subsidiary 
to  the  prospects  of  the  promoters  and  managers  of  these  com- 
panies. 

Wherein  Speculatiox  Differs. 

It  is  true  that  these  are  not  normal  types  of  modern  busi- 
ness;  they  are  commonly  designated  gambling  companies,  some 
of  them  actually  criminal  in  their  methods.  But  they  only 
difi"er  in  degree,  not  in  kind,  from  a  large  body  of  modern  busi- 
nesses, whose  operations  are  so  highly  speculative,  their  risks 
so  little  imderstood  by  the  investing  public,  and  their  profits 
apportioned  with  so  little  regard  to  the  body  of  shareholders, 
as  fairly  to  bring  them  under  the  same-  category.  In  a  word, 
secret  gambling  with  other  people's  money,  on  the  general  line 
of  "heads  I  win,  tails  you  lose,"  is  so  largely  prevalent  in 
modern  commerce  as  perceptibly  to  taint  the  whole  commercial 
atmosphere.  Most  of  these  larger  gambling  operations  are 
either  not  illegal  or  cannot  easily  be  reached  by  law,  whereas 
the  minor  delinquencies  of  fraudulent  clerks  and  other  em- 
ployes are  more  easily  detected  and  punished. 

But  living  in  an  atmosphere  where  secret  speculation  with 
other  people's  money  is  so  rife,  where  deceit  or  force  plays 
so  large  a  part  in  determining  profitable  coups,  it  is  easy  to 
understand  how  an  employe,  whose  conduct  in  most  matters  is 
determined  by  imitation,  falls  into  lax  ways  of  regarding  other 
people's  money  and  comes  in  an  hour  of  emergency  to  '^borrow" 
the  firm's  money.  This  docs  not  excuse  hi.*?  crime,  but  it  does 
throw  light  upon  its  natural  history. 


366  GAMBLING  AND  CWME 

When  it  Will  Cease. 

Publicity  and  cdiu-ation  are,  of  course,  the  chief  instruments 
for  converting  illegitimate  into  legitimate  speculation,  for 
changing  commercial  gambling  into  commercial  foresight. 
This  intelligent  movement  toward  a  restoration  of  discernible 
order  and  rationality  in  business  jDrocesses,  by  eliminating 
"chances"  and  placing  the  transfer  of  property  and  the  earn- 
ing of  industrial  gains  on  a  more  rational  foundation,  must, 
of  course,  go  with  other  movements  of  social  and  industrial 
reforms  which  aim  simultaneously  at  the  basis  of  reformation 
of  the  economic  environment.  Every  stop  whicli  places  the 
attainment  of  property  upon  a  sane  rational  basis,  associating 
it  with  proportionate  personal  productive  effort,  every  step  which 
enables  men  and  women  to  find  orderly  interests  in  work  and 
leisure  by  gaining  opportunities  to  express  themselves  in  art 
or  play  under  conditions  which  stimulate  new  human  wants 
and  supply  means  of  satisfying  them,  will  make  for  the  de- 
struction of  gambling. 

()a:mblixg  Don't  Pay. 

Two-fiftlis  of  all  tlie  crimes  committed  every  year  are  esti- 
mated to  be  attributable  to  race  tracks.  Five  men  have  been 
convicted  this  year  of  stealing  money  from  the  United  States 
postoffice,  and  every  one  of  them  confessed  he  lost  tlie  money 
at  race  traces.  The  luania  for  gambling  is  growing  stronger, 
and  as  it  grows  the  defenses  of  honesty  crumble  away. 

What  may  be  called  gambling  thieves  are  not.  so  numerous 
in  Chicago  as  in  some  other  cities,  for  the  reason  that  no  race 
tracTvs  are  permitted  to  exist  in  Cook  county.  7-?nt  tliere  are 
many  gambling  swindlers  in  this  city.  A  large  proportion  of 
flio  men  in  the  county  jail  are  there  ])ecause  gambling  wrecked 
morals  in  them,  and  hardly  a  week  passes  that  does  not  find 
at  least  one  person  before  the  conrts  cliarged  with  r()l)l)ery  bo- 
cause  money  was  wanted  to  bet. 

This  is  not  all  of  the  injury  that  gambling  does  to  the  com- 


GAMBLING  AND  ("RIME  3GT 

iniinity.  Because  the  state's  attornej^'s  office  and  the  police 
]\avo  not  suppressed  gambling  the  city  is  full  of  sharpers  who 
make  their  living  out  of  men  foolish  enough  to  think  that  they 
can  get  rich  by  betting  on  horse  races,  faro  or  roulette.  These 
sharpers  are  an  organized  band  of  law  breakers,  preying  on 
society,  disorganizing  it  as  far  as  is  possible,  their  whole  exis- 
tence a  menace  to  decency  and  order. 

The  passion  for  gambling  can  probably  never  bo  eradicated 
from  human  nature.  But  civilization  should  be  able  to  pre- 
vent rogues  and  rascals  from  profiting  by  it  in  the  way  usual 
in  Chicago.  Professional  gamblers — professional  swindlers, 
should  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  and  kept  there.  There 
should  be  some  means  under  the  law  to  send  all  such  to  the 
penitentiary  and  keep  them  there. 

How  TO  ExD  Eace-Track  Gambling. 

Race-track  gambling  has  unexpectedly  become  an  issue  of 
importance  in  New  A'ork,  and  widespread  discussion  of  means 
k)  rid  the  city  of  its  race  tracks  is  taking  place. 

Discussion,  however,  is  unnecessary.  The  way  to  end  the 
plague  of  betting  on  races  is  plain.  Let  the  grand  jury  indict 
officials  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  for  com- 
plicity in  bookmaking  and  send  them  to  jail.  Without  gam- 
bling race  tracks  would  be  deserted.  Without  the  aid  of  the 
Western  Union  there  would  be  no  gambling  worth  mention- 
ing. Strike  at  the  Western  ITnion  and  the  race  tracks  would 
go  out  of  existence. 

The  Western  Union  Company  is  the  one  great  eneourager  of 
gambling  in  this  country.  But  for  its  reports  of  races,  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  young  men  would  be  saved  from  ruin 
every  year.  Tt  is  in  partnership  with  sharpers  who  fleece  the 
foolish.  It  shares  their  gains  in  pa3anent  for  the  use  of  its 
wires.  The  money  that  flows  into  its  coffers  from  that  source 
is  taken  by  trickery  from  the  public.  The  race  track  swindlers 
rob  a  man  and  hand  over  a  part  of  their  loot  to  the  Western 


368 


GAMBLING  AND  CRIME 


■L_^->^:^^p^^.C^ 


"^SS^&M^^  -:^ 


'C=Sj 


Do  they   tliiiik  about   us   at   lioine?       We    air    having    such    a    good    time 
liear    a    lone. 

Union,   because   withom    the  Western   Union's   assistance  they 
could  not  have  robbed  him. 

But  for  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  not  a  single 
race  track  would  be  in  operation  in  the  United  States,  for 
without  the  Western  Union's  aid  race  tracks  would  not  be 
])rofi  table. 


I 


GAMBLING  AND  CRIME  369 

The  way  to  stop  race  tracks  gambling  and  drive  race  courses 
out  of  existence  is  to  compel  the  AVestern  Union  to  observe  the 
law  which  forbids  just  such  practices  as  those  of  which  it  is 
guilty  every  day.  That  can  be  done  only  by  sending  a  few 
Western  Union  officials  to  jail  and  keeping  them  there  until 
their  company  concludes  to  dissolve  partnership  with  crooks. 

Learn    Early    Not   to    Gamble;    Teach    Pupils    Law    of 
Chance. 
Mere  driftwood  on  a  restless  wave; 

A  shuttlecock  that's  tossed  by  Fate; 
Year  follows  year  into  the  grave, 

Whilst  thou  dost  cry,  "Too  late !  Too  late !"' 

A  life  that's  but  a  wintry  day, 

Whilst  chilling  storms  blow  thee  about; 

A  tempter  thou  durst  not  say  nay ; 
A  conscience  long  since  put  to  rout. 

Who  gets  by  play  a  loser  is; 

The  gambler  stakes  his  very  heart; 
What's  prodigally  won's  not  his;  '■ 

Who  Avagers  takes  the  knave's  foul  part. 

Thou  shouldst  not  steal  nor  covet  Avhat 

Another  hath  by  labor  earned; 
No  man  who  hath  with  wisdom  wrought 

But  this  base  sport  hath  ever  spurned. 

Why  haggard  thus  thy  fair,  young  fncr 
With  vigils,  passions,  aimed  at  gain? 

Is  this  thy  mission  in  this  place — 
This  idleness  which  brings  disdain? 

Be  not  a  weakling,  nor  of  Avax ; 

Let  mind  be  master  over  thee ; 
See  that  its  shaping  of  thy  acts 

Prepares  thee  for  eternity ! 


370  GAMBLl^NiG  A2s"D  ClUME 

xVrt  thou  thy  brother's  keeper? 

Most  emphatically,  yes,  if  he  he  not  sufficiently  strong  to  re- 
frain from  doing  that  which  is  injurious  to  himself  and  those 
dependent  upon  him. 

Public  Lax;  Gamblers  Active. 

When  the  law  declares  against  gambling,  and  advertisement 
and  sale  of  even  "fair"  gambling  paraphernalia,  why  is  it  that 
the  righteous  majority,  which  would  not  stoop  to  this  form  of 
speculation,  sits  inertly  by,  allows  crooked  devices  to  be  adver- 
tised and  sold,  permits  hundreds  of  men  to  waste  their  time  and 
substance,  and  dozens  to  blow  out  their  brains  as  a  conse- 
quence ? 

Why  do  "good"  men  prate  on  "personal  liberty,"  which  is 
merely  their  way  of  washing  their  hands  of  the  responsibility 
for  good  government. 

Does  it  eradicate  the  evil  to  say  a  man  is  a  free  moral  agent 
and  need  not  lose  his  money  gambling  unless  he  wants  to; 
that  "virtue  is  its  own  reward;"  that  "honesty  is  the  best 
policy,"  or  that  taking  without  giving  return  is  a  sin? 

Would  it  not  be  better  for  this  inactive  majority  of  talkers 
to  elect  incorruptible  men  who  can  do  something  besides  talk — 
men  who  would  enforce  the  laws  and  provide  heavy  punish- 
ments for  concerns  whicli  make  gambling  machines  in  which 
the  unsuspecting  have  absolutely  no  chance  to  win? 

Are  We  Following  Rome  to  the  Pit? 

Are  we  going  the  way  of  Greece  and  Rome?  Is  there  a 
menace  in  the  rapid  increase  of  wealth  in  the  United  States? 
Are  we  allowing  the  moral  tone  of  society  to  sink? 

The  present  tendency  is  toward  speculation,  even  from  cikl- 
hood.  In  most  cities  the  child  barely  able  to  walk  can  find  slot 
machines  in  candy  stores  and  drug  stores  from  which  he  is 
made  to  believe  ho  can  get  something  for  nothing.  Is  this  the 
proper  training  to  give  eliildren?  Is  it  right  to  get  something 
for  which  no  return  of  money  or  labor  is  given  ?    And  is  it  right 


GAMBLING  AND  CRIME  371 

to  thus  lure  eliildren  when  adults  know  that  their  pennies  more 
than  pay  for  what  they  get — premiums  and  all? 

Children  in  school  should  he  taught  to  calculate  probahilities 
as  a  part  of  their  course  in  elementary  arithmetic.  Then  they 
would  know  better  than  to  play  slot  machines  or  buy  prize 
packages.  And  when  they  grew  up  they  would  shun  the  book- 
maker, the  lottery,  and  the  roulette  wheel. 

The  ordinary  gambler  speculates  partly  because  he  loves  the 
excitement  and  thrill  of  the  game,  but  mainly,  he  will  assure 
you,  as  he  assures  himself,  he  is  buoyed  up  by  the  hope  of 
winning.  He  does  not  stop  to  figure  out  his  chances.  If  he 
sees  a  hundred  to  one  shot  he  will  play  it,  seeing  only  that  by 
risking  a  dollar  he  has  a  chance  to  win  a  hundred.  If  he  had 
been  taught  in  school  to  see  that  really  the  chances  were  200 
to  1  against  him,  and  that  he  was  betting  a  dollar  against 
fifty  cents,  he  would  keep  his  money  in  his  pockets.  Of  course 
the  man  who  plays  the  races  knows  the  odds  of  the  book  are 
against  him.  He  prides  himself,  however,  that  he  is  a  wise 
reader  of  the  "dope  sheet,"  and  that  can  overcome  the  odds  by 
a  superior  cunning. 

He  knows  that  he  can't  win  on  his  luck,  for  this  "breaks 
even"  in  the  long  run. 

Fate's  Cards  Always  Stacked. 

But  the  man  who  plays  against  a  machine,  if  he  has  taken 
the  elementary  course  in  the  law  of  probabilities,  can  suffer 
under  no  delusions  and  cannot  give  himself  any  reasonable 
excuse.  He  is  bound  to  lose.  The  odds  on  the  machine  are 
against  him.  And  even  if  they  were  not,  it  is  entirely  likely 
that  the  machine  would  win.  An  old  gambler  contends  that  if 
a  man  matched  pennies  all  day  every  day  for  a  month  against 
a  purely  mechanical  device  he  would  quit  a  heavy  loser.  The 
only  way  he  could  keep  even  would  be  to  start  out  with  "heads" 
or  "tails,"  and  then  go  away  and  leave  the  machine  at  work, 
never  changing  his  bet.    If  he  remained  to  watch  the  operation 


Sr^  GAMBLlXei  AXD  VHUIE 

he  would  be  sure  to  lose  his  head  and  begin  to  •"guess""  against 
the  relentless  mechanism,  and  then  he  would  lose. 

In  the  ordinary  coin-paying  slot  machine,  the  dial  r^liows 
alternate  reds  and  blacks,  interspersed  here  and  there  with 
quarters,  halves  and,  perhaps,  $1.  The  player  wins  5  cents 
on  the  black,  20  cents  on  the  quarter,  45  cents  on  the  half, 
and  95  cents  on  the  dollar.  The  dials  differ,  but  suppose 
there  are  thirty  reds,  thirty  blacks,  ten  quarters,  five  halves, 
and  one  dollar.  The  chances  are  against  you,  then,  on  the  red 
or  black,  46  to  30;  on  the  quarter,  GQ  to  24;  on  the  half,  71 
to  24,  and  on  the  dollar,  ')o  to  19.  Most  players,,  it  is  said,  prefer 
the  larger  sums  as  a  hazard  in  the  coin  machines,  although  the 
])r()babilities  against  them  are  much  greater.  Again,  they  are 
(hizzled  by  the  chance  of  winning  a  large  sum  at  a  small  risk. 
Ideally,  they  are  betting  their  nickel  against  3  cents  on  the 
red  or  black,  and  against  2  cents  or  less  on  the  larger  sums. 

Children  Throw  Away  Money. 

If  the  children  knew  this  they  would  not  fool  away  their 
money  in  the  machines  when  they  go  for  a  boat  ride  on  the 
lake,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  grown  men  and  women 
would  beware  of  them  if  they  had  learned  to  figure  chances 
M'lien  they  were  in  school.  In  the  penny  machines  in  the  cigar 
h^tores  the  probabilities  are  harder  to  figure.  You  play  a  cent 
in  the  machine,  and  if  you  get  two  pairs  from  a  revolving 
pack  of  cards,  always  exposing  the  faces  of  five,  you  win  a 
5-cent  cigar.  In  most  of  the  machines  you  must  get  "jacks 
up  or  better"  in  order  to  win.  Any  poker  player  will  bet  you 
a  chip  on  any  deal  that  you  will  not  have  as  good  as  a  pair  of 
trays,  and  the  chances  that  you  will  have  two  pairs  as  good  as 
jacks  up  must  be  at  least  twenty  to  one. 

Some  of  the  machines  consist  of  wheels  of  fortune  whiili 
7-evolve  from  the  weight  of  the  penny  dropped  in  the  slot.  In 
any  event  the  child  gets  a  penny's  worth  of  goods,  and  there  .iic 
chances  to  got  two  or  five  cents'  worth.    Cum  uiiicliincs  siivc  ;in 


GAMBLlN(i  AXI)  CBUIE 


3r;3 


alleged  ceiifs  worth  of  gum,  with  a  ehaueo  for  a  coupon,  which 
is  good  for  a  nickle's  worth  without  extra  charge. 

How  many  steps  is  this  apparently  harmless  form  of  amuse- 
ment removed  from  the  deceptive  slot  machines  in  cigar  stores  ? 
And,  in  turn,  how  many  steps  are  these  cigar  machines  re- 


374  GAMBLING  AND  CEIME 

moved  from  those  in  the  saloons  ?  The  boy  who  wins  five  cents 
worth  in  the  candy  store  will  take  cigarette  tobacco  or  a  cigar, 
if  the  dealer  be  unprincipled.  Next  he  tries  for  a  cigar  in  a 
cigar  store,  and  then  for  a  cigar  in  a  saloon.  If  he  is  lucky 
in  the  last  named,  he  is  asked  to  a  friendly  game  of  poker. 
Be3'ond  asking  if  it  is  a  pleasure  to  either  lose  to  or  win  from 
a  friend,  and  to  express  the  opinion  that  even  though  the  game 
be  perfectly  square,  and  there  be  no  rake-off,  it  still  remains 
true  that  the  time  lost,  and  money  spent  for  drinks  and  cigars, 
far  outAveigh  in  value  any  pleasure  that  may  be  experienced. 

Confederates  Used. 

Men  who  m.ake  a  business  of  conducting  and  playing  poker 
game^  stop  at  nothing  to  get  the  money.  The  expenses  of  run- 
ning the  place,  and  the  free  lunches,  drinks  and  cigars  dis- 
pensed must  be  paid  for  by  some  one,  and  the  proprietor  is  not 
in  business  to  lose  money.  The  game  in  which  there  is  no 
rake-off  cannot  possibly  be  square,  and  where  there  is  a  rake- 
off  the  odds  against  you  are  prohibitive,  if  you  play  fair.  Witli 
seven  men  in  a  game  of  "draw,"  three  of  whom  are  '^louse"' 
men,  the  amount  which  goes  into  the  "kitty"  nightly  is  usually 
about  equal  to  the  losses  of  the  other  cheat  who  dares  not  be 
found  out. 

Cheating  Device  in  a  Slot  ^Iachine, 

Ordinarily  Ihe  owners  and  saloonkeepers  divide  the  win-  . 
nings  of  all  slot  machines.  In  a  fair  machine  the  winnings 
fall  into  the  receptacle  A.  Most  of  the  money  gambled  by 
players  found  its  way  into  this  depository.  It  did  not  please 
the  owner  of  this  machine  to  share  his  profits  equally  with 
the  saloonkeeper.  The  winning  player  was  paid  from  the 
nickels  which  lined  a  zig-zag  chute  ending  at  C.  The  owner 
changed  this  scheme  by  inserting  the  secret  bag  B.  Then  he 
cut  a  hole  in  the  chute  at  D  and  arranged  a  spring  which 
diverted    one   out    of   three  nickels   into  B.      As  long   as   flic 


GAMBLING  AND  CKIME 


Slot    Machine    Proves    a    Fraud, 


376  GAMBLIXU  AXD  CKIME 

chute  was  ompty  below  the  i^oint  of  ontraneo  of  A  the  nickels 
kept  on  filling  the  zig-zag  runway. 

When  the  machine  was  seized,  in  the  l)ox  where  all  the 
gains  were  supposed  to  be,  $60.20  was  found.  These  two 
sums  represented  the  total  proceeds  of  a  day. 

Confederates,  mirrors,  ^words,  signs  and  hold-outs  are  used. 
A  player  dealing  from  a  stacked  deck  will  inform  his  confed- 
erate how  many  cards  to  draw  by  uttering  a  sentence  contain- 
ing that  number  of  words.  Men  lounging  behind  a  player  will 
"tip  off'"'  his  hand.  Cards  are  marked  in  a  manner  impercep- 
tible to  the  eye  of  the  novice,  and  sometimes  liquid  refresh- 
ment is  spilled  on  the  table  in  front  of  the  dealer,  so  that  his 
opposite  can  read  the  reflections  of  the  cards  as  they  are  dealt 
face  doA^mward  across  the  board.  The  last-named  scheme  is 
used  where  the  table  has  no  covering. 

There  are  many  who  belie-s-e  that  talks  of  crookedness  at  card 
tables  are  only  sermons  by  "goody-goodies,"'  who  know  not 
whereof  they  speak.  Let  the  following  advertisement,  recently 
sent  broadcast  over  the  country  by  a  large  concern  located  in 
the  business  center  of  one  of  America's  largest  cities,  refute 
such  claims: 

HOLD  OT'TS. 

"CoRRESPO^-l)  WITH  Us  Before  Buying  of  Others." 
We   have  the  lincst   line   in   the  c-ountry.  and  every   machine 

is    made   to   set   the   money — not   for   ornament,    and   accuracy. 

Is  as  perfect  as  a  watch.     Works  with  a  knee  movement,  and 

l)y    a    slight    movement    everything    disappears.      If    they    have 

plavcd   cards   all   their   lives   they   will   stand   it. 
Our    price    only   .'S125.0O. 

.  The  circular  also  mentioned  dozens  of  other  crooked  devices 
at  lesser  prices,  and  contained  illustrations  showing  how  the 
machines  work.  Can  there  be  any  doubt  these  are  used  when 
concerns  devote  their  entire  time  to  manufacturing  them  and 
can  get  such  high  prices? 

The  sleeve  hold-out  above  mentioned,  is  made  of  a  hair 
cloth  sidewav,  about  the  same  size  as  a  deck  of  cards,  with  its 
narrow  sides  laid  in  fine,  plaited  folds,  so  that  it  will  either  lie 


GAMBLING  AiNi)  CKiAEK 


37'i 


Fig.  27.— .Showing  card 
held  under  the  arm. 


Fig    28  —Ring  Holdout. 
'Table-reflector. — Fastens  by  pressing  steel  spurs  into 


Fig.  20. 
under  side  of  table.     A  fine  glass  comes  to  the  edge  of 
table  -to  read  the  cards. as  you  deal  them  off/    You  can 
set  the  glass  at  any  angle  or  turn  it  back  out  of  sight  in 
an  instant,' 


378  GAMBLIXG  AXD  CRIME 

fiat  or  expand.  This  is  sewed  in  tlie  sleeve  of  the  coat  or  shirt 
and  reaches  from  the  cuff  to  the  elbow  joint.  One  of  the  wide 
sides  is  sewn  or  pasted  to  the  cuff,  both  ends  being  open.  At 
the  elbow  a  strap  fits  around  the  arm,  to  which  is  attached  a 
metal  tube  that  reaches  down  to  the  near  end  of  the  sleeve, 
with  a  pulley  attached  to  the  end.  A  short  wide  elastic  is  also 
attached  to  the  strap,  and  to  the  elastic  is  fastened  a  metal 
clamp  that  holds  the  cards.  A  cord  is  attached  to  this  clamp, 
which  runs  down  and  over  the  pulley,  then  back  to  the  elbow 
through  the  metal  tube,  thence  to  the  shoulder,  through  the 
clothing  to  the  body,  thence  down  through  the  loop  at  the 
heel,  with  a  hook  attached  to  the  end.  The  cord  passes  through 
a  flexible  tulje  from  the  elbow  to  the  ankle.  This  tube  will 
bend  easil}^,  but  will  not  flatten,  and  is  attached  to  the  cloth- 
ing with  string  ties  to  keep  it  in  line  with  the  body.  Its  use  is 
to  prevent  the  cord  from  ticking  or  binding. 

To  work  this  hold  out  the  hook  at  the  end  of  the  cord  is 
fastened  to  the  loop  of  the  shoe  on  the  opposite  foot.  When 
the  feet  are  spread  apart  the  act  causes  the  cord  to  draw  the 
clamp  referred  to  down  through  the  sideway  and  to  the  near 
end  of  the  sleeve.  Any  cards  that  are  in  it  will  reach  into 
the  palm  of  the  hand,  where  they  can  be  taken  out  or  placed 
back  into  the  clamp.  By  drawing  the  feet  together  again  the 
■cord  relaxes,  and  the  elastic  will  draw  the  clamp  and  the  cards 
it  contains  back  up  the  slideway  to  its  place  near  the  elbow. 
There  are  other  similar  hold-outs.    Don't  let  them  hold  you  up. 

^Iarked  Cards. 

Marked  cards  are  known  among  gamblers  as  "Paper,"'  and 
are  considered  an  article  of  utility  in  draw  poker.  The  dealer, 
should  he  be  a  second  dealer,  will  deal  second  to  himself  in- 
stead of  reading  the  hand  of  his  opponent's,  thus  giving 
himself  a  pair,  two  pair,  threes  or  whatever  he  wishes.  ^larked 
cards  are  used  by  those  who  are  not  second  dealers,  as  they  are 
often  able  to  fill  a  hand  bv  holding  a  card  in  the  hand  to  cor^ 


GAMBLING  AND  CRIME 


379 


Caught    Working    the    Sleeve    Hold- out 


380 


GAMBLING  AXD  CRIME 


GAMBLING  AND  CRIME  381 

respond  to  the  card  on  the  top  of  the  pack,  and  in  any  case 
enabled  to  read  opponent's  hands  and  play  accordingly.  They 
are  perhaps  the  greatest  advantage  to  a  professional  second 
dealer,  as  by  drawing  a  bob-tail  card  of  any  kind  he  can  spoil 
the  chances  of  an  honest  player,  however,  skillful.  People  at 
large  are  becoming  aware  of  many  of  the  schemes  used  in 
swindling,  but  so  fast  as  the  public  becomes  acquainted  with  a 
scheme,  the  shark  invents  something  to  take  its  place  or  practices 
the  old  one  until  he  has  it  so  fmo  under  his  manipulation  it 
is  hardly  recognizable.  A  professional  gambler  is  soon  known. 
Even  if  he  is  never  detected  cheating,  he  is  given  credit  for  it. 

Cards  Marked  With  Fixger  Nails. 

This  is  a  mark  put  on  the  cards  during  the  progress  of  the 
game,  with  finger  nail  or  thumb  nail.  It  is  put  on  so  that  the 
gambler  may  know  just  what  his  opponent  holds.  The  ace 
is  marked  with  a  straight  line  or  mark  in  upper  right  hand 
corner.  The  king,  is  a  straight  line  about  one-half  inch  long 
in  the  center  of  the  card.  The  queen  is  a  straight  line  a  half 
inch  longer  than  the  king.  The  jack  is  a  straight  line  about 
the  center  of  the  card.  The  ten  spot  is  designated  by  a  straight 
line  or  mark  in  the  same  position  as  the  ace.  The  nine  spot 
is  a  slanting  line  in  position  of  king.  The  eight  is  a 
slanting  line  in  position  of  queen.  Seven  is  a  slanting  line  in 
position  of  jack.  The  six  is  denoted  by  a  straight  line  in  posi- 
tion of  ace,  running  across  the  card  at  right  angles  to  the  aco 
mark.  The  five  is  same  as  six  in  position  of  king.  The  four  is 
the  same  as  five  and  six  in  position  of  queen.  The  tray  is  same 
mark  in  position  of  jack.  Deuce  is  a  cross  below  the  jack  sign. 
The  mark  denoting  the  suit  of  the  card  is  placed  in  the  center 
of  the  top  of  the  card.  Hearts  are  designated  by  a  perpendicular 
line  at  the  center  end  of  the  card.  Clubs  are  shown  by  a  horiz- 
ontal line  in  the  same  position.  Diamonds  are  shown  by  a 
slanting  line  in  the  same  position.  And  of  course,  as  hearts, 
clubs  and  diamonds  are  marked,  a  card  without  a  mark  would 


883  GAMBLING  AXD  CRIME 

be  a  spade.  This  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous  tricks,  as  it  is 
done  during  the  progress  of  the  game,  and  unless  some  one 
knows  something  about  it,  it  would  never  be  detected. 

The  Doublt:  Discard. 

This  is  used  b}'  many  of  the  gamblers,  and  is  done  tlirough 
the  neglect  of  the  players.  The  man  doing  this  will  always 
draw  three  cards,  no  matter  what  he  may  hold  in  his  liand. 
It  is  done  by  placing  the  cards  he  wishes  to  keep  on  top  of  the 
ones  he  wishes  to  discard,  and  laying  tli^m  down  beside  him, 
ostensibly  discarding  them.  As  he  is  given  his  three  cards  lie 
looks  them  over  and  has  eight  cards  out  of  which  to  pick  his 
hand.  Suppose  in  his  original  hand  he  held  three  diamonds 
and  a  club;  he  places  the  three  diamonds  beside  him  and  calls 
for  three  cards,  holding  one  diamond  and  the  club  in  his  hand. 
When  his  cards  are  dealt  him  he  has  five  cards  out  of  which  to 
pick  two  diamonds.  He  selects  two  cards  and  discards  three 
cards;  at  the  same  time  he  picks  up  the  three  cards  that  he 
discarded  first.  Very  few  are  expert  enough  to  this  trick  with- 
out detection. 

Check  Signs. 

This  is  a  set  of  signs  made  with  the  use  of  checks.  In  mak- 
ing these  signs  a  white  check  counts  one,  a  piece  of  silver  or  a 
colored  check  counts  five;  often  when  colored  chocks  or  silver 
are  not  handy,  matches  are  used  instead.  The  count  of  checks 
corresponds  to  the  size  of  the  cards.  One  colored  check  would 
denote  a  pair  of  fives,  or  three  fives,  when  used  in  a  certain  way, 
which  I  Avill  endeavor  to  explain  fully.  Of  course,  all  these 
different  signs  are  used  between  two  men,  Avho  are  in  league 
with  each  other  in  order  to  cheat  a  game.  The  first  sign  in 
this  set  is  the  sorting  of  cards,  which  means  that  the  hand  is 
no  good.  Should  this  sign  not  be  given,  the  partner  will  look 
for  the  sign  denoting  what  is  hold.  When  one  man  wishes  to 
show  that  he  hns  a  pair,  he  holds  the  check  or  cards  in  the 
right  hand,  slightly  to  the  left  of  his  body.     For  instance,  a 


UAMBLINU  AND  CKIME  383 

white  check  held  in  the  right  hand,  nearly  in  front  of  the  heart, 
would  denote  that  a  pair  of  aces  were  held.  Two  checks,  a  pair 
of  deuces,  and  so  on  to  eleven,  which  signifies  jacks;  twelve, 
(jueens,  and  thirteen,  kings.  For  two  pair,  the  head  pair  is 
shown,  the  checks  being  held  squarely  in  front.  For  instance, 
aces  up  would  be  shown  by  holding  one  white  check  up  in  front 
of  the  body.  For  three  of  a  kind,  the  same  sign  is  used,  merely 
the*check  is  held  a  little  to  the  right  of  the  body.  Three  colored 
and  one  ■white  Avonld  signify  that  a  straight  was  held;  four 
colored  and  one  white  would  signify  that  a  flush  was  held ;  five 
colored  and  one  white  cheek  would  signify  that  a  full  house  was 
held;  six  colored  and  one  white  would  mean  four  of  a  kind; 
two  colored  checks,  together  in  the  palm  of  the  hand,  means  a 
straight  flush. 

Uses  to  Which  a  Pack  of  Caeds  May  be  Put. 

A  pack  of  cards  may  be  used  as  a  Bible,  a  prayer  book,  and 
an  almanac.  As  a  Bible  and  prayer  book,  the  ace  should  re- 
mind you  that  there  is  one  God ;  the  deuce,  of  the  Father  and 
Son;  the  tra}^,  of  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost;  the  four, 
of  the  four  evangelists — Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John;  the 
five  of  the  five  virgins,  who  had  filled  and  trimmed  their 
lamps;  the  six,  of  the  command  to  labor  six  days  a  week;  the 
seven,  of  the  seventh  day,  which  God  blessed  and  hallowed; 
the  eight,  of  the  eight  righteous  persons  who  were  saved  in  the 
ark,  Noah,  his  wife  and  three  sons  and  their  wives;  the  nine, 
of  the  nine  lepers  who  were  cleansed  by  our  Savior  and  never 
thanked  Him  for  it;  the  ten,  of  the  ten  commandments;  the 
king,  of  the  Great  King  Almighty;  the  queen,  of  Sheba,  who 
visited  Solomon;  Solomon  was  the  wisest  man  living,  and  she 
was  as  wise  a  woman  as  he  was  a  man;  the  knave,  of  Judas 
Tscariot,  who  betrayed  our  Savior. 

As  an  almanac,  count  the  spots,  and  3?6n  have  three  hundred 
and  sixty-five,  the  number  of  days  in  a  5^ear.  Count  the  cards, 
and  you  have  fifty-two,  the  number  of  weeks  in  a  year.    Count 


384  GA^IBIJNG  A^'D  CRIME 

the  i?uit.s,  and  \ou  luive  four,  the  number  of  weeks  in  a  month. 
Count  the  face  cards,  and  you  have  twelve,  the  number  of 
months  in  a  year.    Count  the  trickf?,  and  you  have  thirteen,  and 
you  have  the  number  of  ^^eeks  in  a  quarter. 
The  Bill  Hanr 

You  have  often  seen  a  lot  of  poker  players  playing  witli  a 
lot  of  checks  stacked  up  in  front  of  them  and  a  few  bills  or 
greenbacks  spread  out  in  front  of  them,  between  checks  and 
themselves.  A  player  having  his  checks  in  this  manner  needs 
watching,  for  it  is  easy  to  slide  a  full  hand  or  four  of  a  kind 
under  those  bills  whenever  an  opportunity  occurs.  Whenever 
a  good  fat  pot  appears  he  can  use  this  hand  which  he  has 
under  the  hills  by  simply  putting  his  hand  on  top  of  the  bills 
and  turning  tliem  over,  which  brings  the  good  hand  on  top  and 
poor  ones  under  the  bills.  He  always  makes  a  practice  of  lay- 
ing his  cards  down  on  the  bills,  and  other  players  see  it  at 
different  times  and  will  think  nothing  of  it.  The  only  way 
to  detect  this  is  hy  missing  the  five  cards  out  of  the  pack,  and 
one  has  to  he  a  expert  to  miss  five  cards  out  of  fifty-two  without 
counting  them,  and  after  playing  a  good  hand  in  this  way  he 
must  get  rid  of  the  deal  hand,  which  is  under  the  bills,  in 
order  to  get  ready  to  collect  another  hand  for  the  next  play.  The 
principal  thing  about  this  work  is  to  do  it  at  the  right  time  and 
with  the  right  people. 

Toothpick  or  Cigar  Signs. 

A  gambler  will  use  a  set  of  signs  made  with  a  cigar,  pipe  or 
toothpick  to  show  his  partner  what  he  holds  in  his  hand.  The 
signs  are  as  follows:  The  cigar,  pipe  or  toothpick  placed  in 
the  left  side  of  the  mouth  signifies  a  pair.  On  the  right  side 
two  pair;  in  the  center  of  the  moutli  means  threes.  To  signify 
that  a  straight  is  hold  the  cigar  is  moved  up  and  do^\^l  witli 
the  fore  finger.  Working  in  the  same  manner  with  the  first  and 
second  finger  denotes  a  flush.  With  the  third  finger  denotes 
a  full  house.     With  fourth  finger  means  four  of  a  kind.     To 


GAMBIJNG  AND  CHIME  385 

show  the  size  of  the  liand  the  fingers  are  placed  on  the  cigar, 
])ipe  or  toothpick  in  the  following  manner:  Suppose  a  pair  of 
aces  are  held,  the  cigar  is  placed  in  the  left  hand  corner  of 
the  mouth  and  touched  with  the  first  finger  of  the  right  hand. 
Aces  up  or  three  aces  can  be  shown  in  the  same  way.  Tlio 
first  finger  denoting  aces,  the  second  kings,  the  third  queens 
and  the  fourth  jacks. 

GAMBLING  DEVICE  SWINDLE  IN  ARMY 
AND  NAVY. 

Scope  of  Fraud  World-Wide — Soldiers  and  Sailors  Victims 
of  Contrivances. 

On  May  19,  1906,  Detective  Clifton  E.  Wooldridge,  with  ten 
men,  swooped  down  on:  H.  C.  Evans,  125  South  Clark  street; 
George  De  Shone,  402  Xorth  Clark  street;  Barr  &  Co.,  E. 
Manning  Stockton,  56  Fifth  avenue.  The  offices  were  raided 
and  sure-thing  gambling  devices  valued  at  $5,000  seized  and 
destroyed.  H.  C.  Evans  was  arrested  and  fined  $200;  George 
De  Shone  was  arrested  and  fined  $100,  and  E.  Manning  Stock- 
ton arrested  and  fined  $25.  Afterwards  E.  Manning  Stockton 
was  indicted,  arrested  and  gave  bonds,  which  he  forfeited  and 
then  fled. 

Disclosure  of  conditions  which  so  seriously  threatened  the 
discipline  of  the  Fnited  States  army  and  navy  that  the  secre- 
taries of  the  two  departments,  and  even  President  Roosevelt 
himself,  were  called  upon  to  aid  in  their  suppression,  were 
made  in  the  Harrison  Street  police  court  following  this  arrest. 

It  was  charged  that  a  coterie  of  Chicago  men  engaged  in 
making  and  selling  these  devices  had  formed  a  "trust,"  and 
had  for  years  robbed,  swindled,  and  corrupted  the  enlisted  men 
of  the  army  and  navy  through  loaded  dice,  "hold-outs,"  mag- 
netized roulette  Avheels,  and  other  crooked  gambling  appar- 
atus. 


380 


GAMBLING  AND  CRIME 


j^/ec/f/c  D/ce 


The  Way  Some  Cards  Are  Marked, 


GAMBLING  AND  CRIME  387 

The  "crooked"  gambling  "trust"  in  Chicago  spread  over 
the  civilized  world,  had  its  clutches  on  nearly  every  United 
States  battleship,  army  post,  and  military  prison ;  caused  whole- 
sale desertions,  and  in  general  corrupted  the  entire  defense  of 
the  nation. 

Try  to  Corrupt  School  Boys. 

Besides  the  corruption  of  the  army,  these  companies  are 
said  to  have  aimed  a  blow  at  the  foundation  of  the  nation, 
by  offering,  through  a  mail  order  plan,  for  six  cents,  loaded 
dice  to  school  boys,  provided  they  sent  the  names  of  likely 
gamblers  among  their  playmates. 

This  plan  had  not  reached  its  full  growth  when  nipped. 
But  the  disruption  of  the  army  and  navy  had  been  under  way 
for  several  years,  and  had  reached  such  gigantic  proportions 
that  the  military  service  was  in  danger  of  complete  disorgani- 
zation. 

Thousands  of  men  were  mulcted  of  their  pay  monthly. 

Desertions  followed  these  wholesale  robberies.  The  War 
Department  could  not  find  the  specific  trouble.  Post  command- 
ers and  battleship  commanders  were  instructed  to  investigate. 

The  army  investigation,  confirmed  after  the  raid  and  arrests, 
showed  that  the  whole  army  had  been  honey-combed  with  cor- 
ruption by  these  companies.  Express  books  and  registered 
mail  return  cards  showed  that  most  of  the  goods  were  sold  to 
soldiers  and  Sailers. 

Forts  Infected  by  Evil. 

Fort  Eiley,  Cavite,  P.  I.,  Manila,  P.  I.,  Honolulu,  the  Alas- 
kan army  posts.  Fort  Leavenworth,  Fort  Eeno,  Fort  Logan, 
Columbus  Barracks,  Fort  McPherson,  were  among  the  posts 
where  hundreds  of  dollars  worth  of  equipment  was  sent,  and 
where  thousands  upon  thousands  of  dollars  a  month  was  the 
booty  obtained  by  the  Chicago  trust  on  a  commission  basis. 

Battleships  in  every  squadron,  the  naval  stations  of  this  na- 


n.s8 


CAMliLlNH    AM)   cm  ME 


GAMBLING   AM)  CHIME  ;^89 

tion  all  through  the  world,  navy  yards,  and  other  points  where 
marines  are  stationed,  have  been  loaded  with  the  devices. 

It  was  found,  upon  investigation,  that  '^'cappers"  were  se- 
lected from  the  enlisted  men.  Agents,  who  ran  the  games  on 
commission,  were  also  found.  These  men,  dazzled  by  financial 
prospects,  deserted  in  droves. 

Many  Victims  Suicides. 

The  men  wlio  were  fleeced  and  had  their  small  pay  taken 
from  them  month  after  month,  became  reckless.  Some  ended 
as  suicides.  Hundreds  became  xmruly  and  were  subjected  to 
guard-house  sentences.  They  deserted  in  their  despair.  The 
conditions  in  the  navy  were  even  worse.  Scores  of  the  battle- 
ship crews  would  be  in  irons  at  a  time. 

To  the  honor  of  the  service,  it  was  found  that  no  officers  had 
ever  participated  in  the  corrupting  vocation.  It  was  the  rank 
and  file  who  "fell  for  it,^'  as  the  gamblers  said.  They  became 
either  tools  or  victims,  to  the  extent,  it  was  estimated,  of  fiO 
per  cent. 

KING  DEATH. 

-Vn  Average  of  200  Suicides  a  Year  at  Monte  Carlo — 
Many  Bodies  Are  Secretly  Thrown  Into  Sea  by 
Authorities  of  This,  the  World's  Greatest 
Gambling  House. 
Paris,  jSTov.  20. — Three  thousand  known  suicides  and  mur- 
ders have  been   committed  in   Monte   Carlo  in  the  space   of 
fifteen  years.     The  known  suicides  average  fully  200  a  year, 
and  some  weeks  there  have  been  as  many  as  three  a  day.    The 
Casino  authorities  do  everything  to  hush  up  scandals  and  news 
of  tragedies.     A  large  force  of  plain-clothes  men  are  engaged 
to  either  prevent  suicides  or  to  hurry  the  body  of  the  dead  im- 
fortunate  out  of  the  way.     It  is  estimated  that  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  tragedies  of  Monte  Carlo  are  never  heard  of  except 
by  the  Casino  staff.    The  corpse  is  rushed  quietly  to  the  morgue 


390 


GAMBLL\(.i   AND  CRIME 


THE  END  OF  THE  ROAD 


GAMBLING  AKD  CEIME  391 

— a  secret  morgue.     Here  it  is  kept  some  time  to  see  whether 
relatives  or  friends  are  going  to  interfere  or  kick  up  a  row. 

Bodies  Thrown"  in"  Ocean, 
Every  once  in  a  while  a  small  steamer  slips  out  of  the  har- 
bor at  dead  of  night.  Its  cargo  is  secured  at  the  secret  morgue. 
At  sea  the  bodies  are  thrown  overboard,  duly  weighted,  without 
toll  of  bell  or  muttered  prayer.  There  are  countless  graves  of 
unknown  dead  in  the  Monte  Carlo  cemetery.  But  these  are 
only  those  whose  death  has  become  known  to  the  public.  The 
Casino  authorities  have  a  special  bureau,  whose  duties  are  to 
relieve  persons  ruined  at  the  tables.  The  ruined  gambler  can 
get  from  this  bureau  enough  money  to  take  him  to  his  home, 
or  to  some  spot  far  from  Monaco.  Few  know  of  this,  perhaps, 
or  there  would  not  be  so  many  deaths.  The  "dead-broke"  gam- 
bler is  taken  through  many  inner  chambers  and  before  stern- 
faced  men,  to  whom  he  has  to  tell  his  history  in  detail.  He  is 
also  confronted  with  the  different  croupiers,  who  testify  as  to 
whether  he  really  lost  as  much  as  he  may  claim. 

Banish  the  Dead  Broke. 
Then  the  wretched  man  has  to  sign  a  docuftient  banishing 
himself  forever  from  Monaco.  His  name  and  particulars  are 
written  in  the  'Tblack  book,"  his  photograph  is  taken  and  given 
to  the  doorkeepers  and  other  officials  to  study,  and  then  the 
man  is  taken  to  the  r&ilway  station,  a  ticket  bought,  a  few 
dollars  given  him,  and  an  official  escorts  him  as  far  as  the 
frontier.  Should  he  return  it  would  not  avail  him.  The 
police  would  turn  him  back  again  into  France  or  Italyo  It  is 
related  that  an  American  who  was  "^TDroke"  and  anxious  to  get 
back  to  the  United  States  heard  of  this  feature  of  Monte  Carlo. 
He  had  not  gambled  there  because  he  had  no  money,  but  he 
managed  to  make  his  way  to  Monte  Carlo  and  demanded  to 
see  the  authorities.  He  coolly  asked  for  a  steamer  ticket  to 
ISTew  York.  Inquiries  revealed  that  he  had  only  just  arrived 
in  Monaco,  and  had  never  put  a  foot  inside  the  Casino,  bul 


39^  GAMBLING  AND  CRIME 

despite  this  the  authorities  gave  him  a  steerage  ticket  to  Isevr 
York  and  saw  him  on  his  way. 

BoxAPARTES  Big  Stockholders. 

There  is  also  the  case  of  an  important  Indian  arm}^  officer 
who  went  broke.  The  authorities  gave  him  first-class  passage 
to  Calcutta,  and  $250  expense  money.  He  had  lost  several 
thousands.  As  much  as  $3,500  has  been  paid  out  to  a  big  loser 
so  that  ho  could  settle  up  his  hotel  bill  and  take  himself  and 
family  home.  Should  such  money  be  paid  back  the  Casino 
might  again  welcome  the  man.  The  sums  usually  paid  range 
from  $25  to  $200,  and  an  average  of  1,000  people  a  year  apply 
for  this  relief.  The  profits  of  the  Casino  are  immense.  Last 
year  they  were  $7,500,000,  an  increase  of  $760,000  over  the 
previous  year.  Seventy  per  cent  was  paid  to  the  shareholders. 
The  majority  of  the  shares  are  held  by  the  Blanc  family,  the 
leading  member  of  which  is  the  Princess  Marie  Bonaparte, 
whose  father  was  Prince  Roland  Bonaparte,  and  mother  the 
daughter  of  M.  Blanc,  the  founder  of  Monte  Carlo.  She  is  the 
wealthiest  princess  in  the  world,  and  was  lately  married  to 
Prince  George  of  Greece,  who  is  an  impecunious  princeling  and 
needs  the  money. 

Prince  Owns  no  Stock. 

The  prince  of  Monaco  has  not  a  single  share  in  the  enter- 
prise. But  he  derives  his  entire  income  from  the  sum  paid 
him  by  the  Gamblers'  Company  for  the  lease  of  Monaco.  The 
prince  is  of  especial  interest  to  Americans,  because  of  his  Amer- 
ican wife.  She  was  Miss  Alice  Heine  of  Xew  Orleans.  When 
she  married  the  prince  she  was  a  widow,  the  Dowager  Duchess 
of  Richelieu.  The  prince  is  a  "divorced"  man.  He  first  mar- 
ried Lady  Mary,  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  and 
Brandon,  and  a  son  and  heir  was  born.  But  eleven  yeai-s  after 
the  marriage  the  pair  were  so  unhappy  that  an  appeal  was 
nlade  to  the  pope.  The  Catholic  church,  of  course,  does  not 
recognize  divorces,   but  the  pope  issued  a   special   pronounce- 


GAMBLING  AND  CRIME  393 

ment  declaring  his  11-year-old  marriage  invalid,  for  the  reason 

that  the  Lady  Mary's  mother  "over-persuaded  her  to  marry." 

Receives  Enormous  Income. 

The  prince,  in  return  for  the  gambling  concession,  has  been 
getting  an  annual  income  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  and 
all  the  expenses  of  running  the  State  of  Monaco,  including  the 
maintenance  of  the  army  and  the  royal  palace.  He  recently 
granted  a  further  contract  to  the  "Monaco  Sea-Bathing  Com- 
pany," or  to  give  the  gambling  concerns  the  full  title  "La 
Societe  Anonyme  des  Bains  de  Mer  et  Cercle  des  Strangers 
a  Monaco." 

This  concession  now  extends  to  1947,  and  the  annual  in- 
come of  the  prince  has  been  raised  $100,000.  Every  ten  years 
it  will  be  raised  an  additional  $50,000.  In  six  years  time  the 
Casino  will  also  have  to  pay  him  a  lump  sum  down  of  $3,000,- 
000.  It  is  stated  that  the  prince  of  Monaco  is  by  no  means  in 
favor  of  the  Casino,  and  that  he  abhors  the  gambling  and  the 
consequent  scandal  in  his  state,  and  that  could  he  do  so,  he 
would  at  once  stop  it.  But  in  the  old  original  contract  it  was 
agreed  that  the  concession  should  be  extended  to  1947,  and  the 
prince  is  not  rich  enough  to  break  this  contract  and  pay  the 
indemnity  which  the  law  would  quickly  assess. 
Gambling  Kings  Go  Broke;  Often  Die  in  the  Poorhouse. 

Some  one  has  advanced  the  statement  that  every  human 
being  is  a  gambler  at  heart.  Yet  for  a  man  to  go  into  tbe 
business  of  establishing  a  card  gambling  house  under  modern 
conditions  is  to  attempt  one  of  the  riskiest  businesses  in  the 
world.  Recently  one  of  the  most  noted  gaming-house  keepers 
in  the  country  seems  to  have  suggested  a  further  anomaly  in 
the  situation  in  his  utterance  in  a  court  of  record : 

"When  I  conduct  a  house  on  a  10  per  cent  basis  of  profit  it 
is  only  a  matter  of  time  until  my  steady  patron  ''goes  broke.' " 

In  the  face  of  this  statement,  however,  the  innocent  layman 
may  be  still  further  at  sea  when  it  is  recalled  by  old  habitues 
of  the  gaming  table  that  nearly  every  gambling  king  of  mod- 


394  GAMBLING  AND  CRIME 

ern  history  has  finished  close  to  the  poorhouse  and  the  potter's 
field!  How  is  it  possible  that  the  gambler  with  the  insidious, 
certain  10  per  cent  which  inevitably  wrecks  the  man  who  goes 
often  enough  to  the  green  table  almost  invariably  dies  in  pov- 
erty ? 

Must  Have  Fortune  to  Invest. 

Today  it  is  the  gambler  king  who  at  least  has  an  ephemeral 
show  to  gain  fleeting  riches.  But  in  order  that  these  riches 
shall  approach  riches  as  they  are  measured  in  other  businesses, 
the  man  who  opens  the  gambling  house  must  have  a  fortune 
for  the  investment.  His  outlawed  business  itself  will  make  it 
certain  that  he  pays  the  maximum  rental  or  the  highest  price 
for  the  property  which  he  chooses  for  occupancy.  To  sustain 
this  he  will  need  to  seek  out  the  wealthy  patron  who  not  only 
has  money  to  lose,  but  who  may  have  a  certain  influence  which 
may  tend  toward  immunity  for  keeper  and  player  alike.  The 
"establishment"  will  need  to  have  the  best  cuisine  and  the 
best  cellars,  with  palatial  furnishings  and  a  retinue  of  serv- 
ants in  full  keeping. 

And  somewhere  money  will  be  necessary  in  blinding  officials 
to  the  existence  of  an  institution  which  is  visible  to  the  merest 
tyro  in  ^passing  along  the  street. 

A  constitution  of  iron,  the  absence  of  a  nervous  system,  the 
discrimination  of  a  King  Solomon  and  the  tact  of  a  diplomat 
are  requisites  for  the  successful  gambling  king.  Considering 
the  qualification  of  the  man  for  such  a  place  and  the  final 
ending  of  tlie  gambling  king's  career,  it  might  be  a  sociological 
study  worth  while  to  determine  Avhere,  on  a  more  worthy  bent, 
such  capacities  in  a  man  might  land  him. 

In  real  life,  however,  it  must  be  admitted  iliat  the  gambler 
king  is  looked  upon  in  exaggerated  light.  Almost  without  ex- 
ception the  big  gambler  is  posing  always.  Conventionality 
has  demanded  it  of  him.  But  for  more  than  this,  in  order  to 
command  the  following  which  he  desires,  he  must  have  a  cer- 
tain social  side  which  is  not  too  prominent,  but  which  with 


GAAIBLING  AND  CEIME  395 

tact  and  judgment  he  may  bring  otit  on  dress  parade.  To  the 
layman  the  gambler  is  the  dark,  sinister  figure  pictured  in 
melodrama.  He  bears  the  same  relation  to  gambling  that 
Simon  Legree  bore  to  the  institution  of  slavery  of  fifty  years 
ago. 

Story  of.  One  Gambler  King. 

One  of  the  noted  gamblers  of  his  time  in  this  country  passed 
from  laboring  on  the  docks  into  the  j)rize  ring.  When  his  ring 
work  was  ended  the  gambling  house  was  an  easy  step  onward 
in  illegitimate  fields.  On  the  docks  his  reputation  was  not 
above  a  bit  of  "strong  arm"  work  in  separating  a  man  from 
the  money  which  the  dock  walloper  wanted.  Naturally,  under 
the  Queen  sherry  rules,  there  were  things  in  the  ring  which  he 
could  not  do  in  overcoming  an  antagonist,  and  he  learned  to 
make  concessions  to  fairness — which  was  education. 

Opening  a  gambling  house  that  was  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  a  rich  clientele,  it  was  a  necessity  that  he  preserve  this  edu- 
cational regard  for  his  patrons,  and  that  he  should  add  to  it. 
Soon  he  was  in  a  position  where  it  was  imperative  that  his 
reputation  for  fair  dealing  be  kept  intact.  He  became  the 
"gentleman  gambler"  whose  "word"  carried  all  the  accepted 
concomitants  of  his  gentleman's  business.  In  the  course  of 
events  he  attained  a  high  legislative  office  under  the  govern- 
ment. But  it  may  be  said  for  those  who  knew  the  man  as  a 
man,  not  one  ever  ceased  to  regard  him  at  heart  as  the  dock 
walloper,  with  the  inherent  and  unreconstructed  disposition 
to  regard  other  men  as  legitimate  prey.  Had  other  conditions 
and  circumstances  made  a  card  sharp  of  him,  he  would  have 
held  to  the  promptings  of  his  nature. 

In  the  conduct  of  a  gambling  house  of  the  first  class,  the 
gambling  king  needs  for  himself  and  for  his  patrons  the  as- 
surance of  uninterrupted  play.  Men  of  money  and  position 
will  not  go  to  a  house  where  there  is  menace  of  a  police  raid. 
The  small  gambler  may  subsidize  the  policeman  on  the  beat 
in  which  his  house  stands,  but  he  cannot  placate  the  whole 


;j9n 


GAMBLING  AND  CRIME 


GAMBLING  AiND  CHIME 


39T, 


Police  Department.  And  even  when  it  is  thought  that  the 
gambler  king  is  impregnable  in  his  castle  someone  may  break 
over  the  barriers  and  raid  the  place  in  tlie  name  of  the  law 
and  order. 

Witliin  a  few  years  Xew  York  lias  given  to  the  world  somr 
of  the  inside  Avorking  of  the  gambling  business.  When  Jerome 
raided  the  place  of  places  which  had  been  considered  immune, 
the  proprietor  of  the  house  was  considered  worth  a  million 
dollars.  Before  the  litigation  was  done  and  the  fine  paid  the 
gambler  king  was  out  $600,000,  his  "club-houses"  were  closed, 
and  he  had  been  branded  officially  as  a  common  gambler,  pur- 
sued in  the  courts  for  payment  of  lawyers'  fees,  which  he 
designated  as  outrageous  and  a  "shrieking  scandal."  Yet  this 
man  was  of  the  type  whose  word  had  been  declared  as  good 
as  his  bond. 

Dice,  Faro  and  Roulette. 

Dice,  faro  and  roulette  are  the  principal  games  of  the 
gambling  house  and,  considering  these,  the  experienced  player 
will  tell  you  that  he  is  suspicious  of  a  "petey"  in  the  dice  box, 
a  "high  layout"  in  faro,  and  a  "squeezed  wheel"  in  roulette,  in 
just  the  proportion  that  the  gambling  house  keeper  has  not 
recognized  that  he  cannot  indulge  them  because  of  the  fear  of 
detection.  The  gambler  holds  to  the  gambler's  view  of  the 
gambler — and  it  is  not  complimentary  to  the  profession. 

That  the  gentleman  gambler  is  justified  in  his  attitude  to- 
ward the  gentleman  player,  too,  has  been  shown  in  the  New 
York  revelations.  There  one  gentleman  player,  loser  to  the 
extent  of  $300,000,  compromised  with  the  "bank"  for  130 
bills  of  $1,000  denomination.  There  a  gentleman  player  who 
had  lost  $G9,000  to  the  bank  tried  to  compromise  on  $*30,000, 
but  was  in  a  position  where  the  bank  could  hold  him.  IIow 
mucli  the  gambler  king  may  loan  and  lose  in  the  course  of 
a  year  scarcely  can  be  approximated.  The  gambling  debt  is 
"a  debt  of  honor,"  and  even  in  business  not  all  such  debts  are 
paid.     Whether  a  borrowed  debt  or  a  debt  of  loss  to  the  bank. 


aAMBLlNir  ANJJ  UKiME  ay9 

this  honor  is  the  security,  unless  in  emergency  the  gambler  king 
discovers  that  he  can  blackmail  with  safety  to  his  interests 
as  a  whole. 

In  general,  the  gambler  who  is  "on  the  square"  operates  on 
a  10  per  cent  basis  for  his  bank.  In  addition  there  is  the 
'^mknown  per  cent*'  which  is  his  at  the  end  of  the  year.  The 
roulette  wheel,  for  example,  presents  to  the  player  just  one 
chance  in  thirty-seven  of  winning  on  a  single  play,  while  the 
winning  on  that  play  is  paid  in  the  proportion  of  only 
34  to  1. 

More  Nerve  to  Win  Thax  Lose. 

The  one  great  characteristic  in  human  nature  on  which  the 
gambler  counts  is  the  fact  that  it  requires  more  nerve  in  a 
man  to  win  than  is  required  of  him  to  lose !  It  is  startling  for 
the  layman  to  be  told  that  $5,000  in  a  night  is  a  big  winning 
for  a  plaj^er,  while  $5,000  is  only  an  ordinary  loss  in  a  big 
establishment. 

This  fact  is  based  on  subtle  psychology.  There  are  two 
types  of  players,  one  of  which  gambles  when  it  is  in  a  state 
of  elation  and  the  other  when  in  a  state  of  depression.  With 
either,  of  these  types  winning,  it  is  a  gambler's  observation 
that  the  man  who  will  play  until  ho  has  lost  $35,000  Avhen 
luck  hopelessly  is  against  him  cannot  hold  himself  to  the  chair 
after  he  is  $5,000  winner. 

Gamblers  have  made  money — fortunes— in  times  past,  only 
to  be  buried  in  the  potter's  field.  There  are  several  reasons 
assignable  for  this  end.  Extravagant  living  appeals  to  the 
gambler,  and  when  he  has  left  his  own  special  line  of  gamifig 
it  does  not  appeal  to  him  strongly  as  either  pastime  or  means 
for  recouping  his  fortune.  If  he  turns  to  gaming  at  all  it  is 
likely  to  be  in  fields  where  he  docs  not  know  the  game.  Some- 
times he  goes  to  the  Board  of  Trade — sometimes  to  the  stock 
market.  Playing  there  he  is  without  system  and  without 
knowledge  of  conditions.    He  is  likely  to  bull  the  grain  mar- 


'400  (^AMBLINU   AND  CRIME 

ket   two   daj's   after  the  weather  conditions  have  assured   the 
greatest  grain  crop  in  history. 

Once  a  gambler,  always  a  gambler,  is  his  condition;  and  it 
is  only  a  matter  of  time  until  someone  has  a  game  which  beats 
him  out. 


IT'S  UP  TO  YOU,  YOUNG  MAN. 

There  are  two  trails  in  life,  young  man. 

One  leads  to  height  and  fame. 
To  honor,  glory,  peace  and  joy. 

And  one  to  depths  of  shame; 
And  you  can  reach  that  glorious   huight- 

Its  honors  can  be  won — 
Or  you  can  grope  in  shame's  dark  nigiit. 

It's  up  to  j^ou,  young  man. 

Stern  duty  guards  the  \ipper  trail — 

Exact    obedience,    too — 
And  he  who  treads  it   cannot   fail 

To  win  if  he  be  true. 
But  fickle  folly,  gay  with  smiles. 

Rules  o'er  the  other  one. 
And  leads  to  ruin  with  her  wiles. 

It's  up  to  you,  young  man. 

At  parting  of  the  trails  you  stand. 

At  early  manhood's  gate; 
Your  future  lies  in  your  own    hand — 

Will  it  be  low  or  great? 
If  now  you  choose  the  trail  of   Rigbl. 

When  you  the  height  have  won, 
You'll  bask  in  Honor's  fadeless  light — 

It's  up  lo  you,  young  num. 


A  HEARTLESS  FRAUD. 


SCHOOLS     TO     TEACH     SHOW-CARD     WRITING 

CATCH  MANY  VICTIMS  AMONG 

THE  POOR  GIRLS. 

"December  o,  1905,  J.  H.  Bell,  the  proprietor  of  a  SHOW- 
CARD  COLLEGE  at  "21  Quincv  St.,  was  arrested  and  the 
place  closed.  Bell  advertised  for  students  to  learn  to  write 
show-cards  and  signs.  He  is  said  to  charge  $1  for  a  course 
and  to  promise  positions  at  large  salaries  as  soon  as  the 
course  is  completed. 

.  After  the  course  has  been  finished  and  the  tuition  paid 
Bell  is  declared  to  have  refused  to  give  the  graduates  em- 
ployment on  the  ground  that  their  work  is  unsatisfactory. 

A  great  many  girls  are  attracted  to  the  scheme,  and  sign 
contracts  to  pay  Bell  for  the  instruction  in  the  belief  that 
they  will  be  benefited.  Bell  tells  them  that  he  has  customers 
who  will  purchase  all  the  cards  they  can  make.  They  are 
to  receive  a  few  cents  for  each  card  as  soon  as  they  learn 
the  business,  but  they  are  required  to  ]xiy  a  fine  of  2  cents 
for  each  card  they  spoil. 

'They  are  set  to  work  painting  gold  borders  such  as  are  seen 
in  the  windows  of  the  department  stores,  but  the  task  is  so 
difficult  that  only  a  finished  artist  can  do  the  work.  Bell  has 
a  woman  accom}ili(T  wlio  hustU's  into  the  office  when  it  is 
filled  with  women  and  girls  and  tells  how  she  makes  from  $2-') 
to  $30  a  week  painting  cards.  Her  talk  encourages  the  girls 
to  keep  on  spoiling  Bell's  cards  and    increasing  his  income. 

Swindler  Ji'iips   Bail. 
"When   taken  before  the  court,  Bell  made  a  hard  fight  for 
freedom,  but  be  was  held  to  the  Criminal  Court  on  five  charges 


402  A  HEx^RTLESS  FRAUD 

of  obtaining  money  under  false  pretenses.  Bonds  were  placed 
at  $300  in  each  case  by  Justice  Prindiville. 

"He  was  unable  to  do  the  work  he  was  requiring  the  girls 
to  do;,  so  when  the  grand  jury  saw  through  his  scheme  the  five 
indictments  were  promptly  returned. 

"J.  H.  Bell  jumped  his  bail,  fled  to  Minneapolis,  where  he 
conducted  the  same  business.  Here  he  was  again  arrested, 
fined  and  given  so  many  hours  to  leave  the  city." 

Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  was  the  next  place  Bell  opened  his 
Show-Card  College.  On  the  28th  of  September,  1906,  he 
Avas  again  arrested  for  operating  a  confidence  game  and 
fined  $80. 

He  then  went  to  fSt.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  opened  an  office  in 
the  Century  Building,  under  the  name  of  the  Clark  Institute. 
Charges  of  swindling  women  who  applied  to  learn  card-writing 
were  made  against  him  and  he  was  arrested,  but  later  released 
through  some  technicalities  set  up  in  the  warrant  of  his  arrest : 
also  lack  of  evidence  to  support  the  charges  made  in  the 
warrant. 

The  newspapers  published  his  swindling  operations  and  on 
this  account  Bell  threatened  to  sue  both  the  publishers  and 
the  police  officials. 

Detective  Wooldridge  located  him  through  an  article  which 
appeared  in,  the  St.  Louis  paper,  Avhich  gave  a  description  of 
his  Show-Card  College,  Avhich  Avas  being  carried  on  there. 

John  M.  Collins,  General  Superintendent  of  Police,  sent 
Bell's  picture  and  his  Bertillon  system  of  measurements  to 
the  Chief  of  Police  in  St.  Louis,  and  requested  him  to  make 
the  arrest.  On  the  folloAving  day  John  M.  Collins,  Superin- 
tendent of  Police,  Chicago,  Illinois,  received  the  following 
letter  from  E.  P.  Creecy,  Chief  of  Police,  St.  Louis,  Mo. : 

St.  Louis.   Mp.. 
John   M.  Com-ins.   Esq.  Dec.   22.   1900. 

Superinteuclont    of    Polico. 
Chicago,   111. 
Dear    Sir: 

Replying  to  your  letter  of  Dec.  21,    relative   to  J.   H.    Bell. 


A  HEAETLESS  FEAUD  403 

wanted  in  your  city  for  obtaining  money  by  means  of  a  confi- 
dence game,  will  say  that  W.  H.  Clark,  office  354  Century 
Building,  this  city,  was  in  the  Court  of  Criminal  Correction 
this  morning  charged  with  larceny  by  trick,  and  a  nolle  prosequi 
was  entered  by  the  prosecuting  attorney.  He  answers  the 
description  of  Bell  and  is  undoubtedly  the  same  person,  but  I 
would  suggest  that  you  send  someone  to  identify  him  before 
the  arrest  is  made,  as  he  is  making  a  fight  here  on  his  case. 
Clark  is  carrying  on  the  same  kind  of  business  here  as  he  did 
in    your    city.  Very    respectfully, 

E.   P.   Creecy. 

Chief    of    Police. 

Detective  Harry  Harris  of  Chicago  was  sent  to  St.  Louis 
to  identify  Bell,  and  swore  that  in  his  belief  Clark  was  Bell. 
The  detective  department  wanted  the  ease  continued  until 
Friday,  but  Clark  insisted  upon  immediate  trial.  Judge  Sale 
held  that  the  detective  had  not  been  positive  enough  in  his 
identification. 

Detective  Wooldridge  arrived  on  the  scene  as  Bell  was  leav- 
ing the  court  room  after  being  discharged  the  second  time 
by  the  court.  Detective  Wooldridge  seized  Bell  and  turned 
him  over  to  a  St.  Louis  police  officer  and  filed  a  new  affidavit 
of  positive  identification  that  Clark  was  Bell. 

His  lawyer  demanded  an  immediate  trial,  but  Detective 
Wooldridge  secured  a  two-day  continuance  to  bring  witnesses 
from  Chicago  to  prove  the  identity  of  Bell.  This  so  enraged 
the  attorney  that  he  turned  upon  Wooldridge  and  informed 
him  that  he  would  again  free  Bell  and  even  offered  to  bet 
$200. 

He  further  stated  that  he  had  asked  Governor  Folk  not  to 
grant  requisition  papers  for  his  client.  Detective  Wooldridge 
replied,  "Do  you  remember  Admiral  George  Dewey  at  Manila 
Bay  Avho  told  Captain  Gridley  to  fire  when  he  got  ready  ?" 

Wooldridge  further  told  him  he  didn't  care  any  more  for 
him  than  the  dew  that  dropped  on  the  jackass'  mane.  Wool- 
dridge told  the  attorney  that  Bell  had  defrauded  over  two 
hundred  working  girls  in  Chicago,  Illinois,  and  that  the  Cook 
County  grand  jury  had  investigated  the  matter,  and  returned 
five  indictments  against  Bell,  and  the  Honorable  Charles  S. 


404  A  HEAHTLESS  EKAXJD 

Deneen,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  had  caused  to  be 
issued  requisition  papers  for  the  arrest  and  apprehension  of 
J.  H.  Bell,  and  he  had  made  Detective  Wooldridge  a  special 
messenger  to  go  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  bring  Bell  to  Chicago 
where  he  could  be  placed  on  trial  to  answer  to  the  indictments 
that  had  been  brought  against  him. 

Detective  Wooldridge  stated  that  he  had  come  three  hundred 
miles  to  perform  that  mission  and  he  intended  that  Bell 
should  return  to   Chicago  with  him. 

The  attorney  replied  "he  hardly  thought  the  Honorable 
Governor  Folk  of  Missouri  would  grant  requisition  papers  on 
Bell." 

Detective  Wooldridge  told  the  attorney  that  he  came  for  J. 
H.  Bell  and  was  fully  determined  to  take  him  back  to  Illinois 
to  stand  trial  and  that  he  would  cross  the  bridges  as  he  came 
to  them  and  burn  them  behind  him.  He  told  Bell's  attorney 
if  the  Honorable  Governor  Folk  refused  to  grant  the  first 
requisition  papers,  he  would  try  on  each  of  the  other  indict- 
ments asking  for  requisition  papers. 

If  this  failed  there  was  five  forfeited  bonds  by  which  Bell 
could  be  brought  back  to  the  State  of  Illinois  on  extradition 
papers. 

If  all  this  failed  he  had  made  arrangements  to  liave  him 
brought  back  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment, through  an  Inspector  of  Mails  and  United  States 
Deputy  Marshal  for  using  the  mails  for  fraudulent  purposes. 

Wooldridge  called  up  John  M.  Collins,  General  Superin- 
tendent of  Police,  Chicago,  111.,  by  the  long  distance  telephone 
and  requested  the  second  set  of  requisition  papers,  certified 
copies  of  the  five  forfeited  bonds,  and  that  the  bondsman  be 
sent  to  St.  Louis  at  once,  which  was  done. 

Thirty  minutes  after  he  left  Bell's  angry  attorney,  Wool- 
tlridge  was  aboard  a  Missouri  Pacific  fast  train,  bounr"  for 
Jefferson  City,  Mo.,  to  see  Honorable  Jos.  Folk  and  lay  before 
him    the   reason   why   requisition   papers    should    be    granted. 


A  HEARTLESS  FRAUD  405 

Arriving  at  Jefferson  City  at  10  P.  M.,  the  following  morn- 
ing (which  was  Sunday  morning)  he  made  a  demand  upon 
Jailer  Dawson  for  the  body  of  Bell.  Jailer  Dawson  referred 
liim  to  Judge  Sale.  Wooldridge  found  Judge  Sale  at  his  home, 
who,  after  examining  his  papers,  found  them  all  right  and 
ordered  the  jailer  to  turn  over  Bell  to  Detective  Clifton  R. 
Wooldridge. 

Bell  was  again  brought  to  the  office  of  the  Chief  of  Police 
and  confronted  by  Wooldridge  and  Harris  who  arrested  him. 

When  J.  H.  Bell  was  arrested  in  Chicago  December  5,  1905, 
^Ir.  Turner  defended  him  and  afterwards  went  on  Bell's  bond 
for  $1,500.  Bell  was  turned  over  to  Wooldridge  who  slipped 
a  pair  of  handcuffs  on  him  as  he  was  boarding  a  street  car, 
landed  him  in  East  St.  Louis,  111.,  none  too  soon,  as  Bellas 
attorney  had  sent  out  a  writ  of  liaheas  corpus  and  would 
Avatch  all  trains  and  stop  the  detective  from  taking  Bell  from 
the  State  of  Missouri, 

Wooldridge  requested  the  Chief  of  Detectives  to  inform 
Bell's  lawyer  that  both  he  and  Bell  were  now  in  the  State  of 
Illinois  and  their  address  would  be  in  Chicago,  111.,  if  he 
wished  to  see  either  of  them. 

One  of  the  police  officers  at  East  St.  Louis  overheard  Bell 
I  ell  his  cell-mate  he  would  make  his  escape  before  he  reached 
Chicago,  and  told  him  to  watch  the  newspapers  the  next  day. 

This  information  was  given  to  Wooldridge. 

Detective  Wooldridge  had  tickets  over  the  Chicago  and  East- 
<;rn  Illinois  Railroad. 

This  train  left  at  11  P.  M.  at  night  and  the  first  stop  it 
made  was  twenty  miles  north  on  the  Missouri  side  of  the  river. 

Wooldridge  could  not  take  his  prisoner  and  board  the  train 
rhere  on  account  of  liaheas  corpus  writs  for  Bell.  Officers  were 
watching  all  trains  expecting  him  to  leave  St.  Louis.  Wool- 
•Iridge  outwitted  them  by  taking  interurban  street  ear,  trav- 
eling some  twenty-five  miles  in  company  with  two  officers  whom 
fhe  Chief  of  Police  had  sent  along  with  him.     Upon  arriv- 


406  A  HEARTLESS  FRAUD 

iug  at  the  station  in  a  heavy  rainstorm  he  found  the  agent 
had  deserted  his  post  and  gone  home. 

The  headlight  on  the  Eastern  Illinois  fast  express  train 
showed  up  in  the  distance.  What  was  to  be  done  to  bring 
the  train  to  a  stop  so  that  they  could  board  it?  At  this  im- 
portant inoment  Wooldridge's  eye  rested  upon  a  switch  lamp 
under  a  switch  only  a  few  yards  from  him;  with  one  leap 
across  the  track  he  secured  the  lamp  and  began  to  swing  it 
across  the  track  to  and  fro  with  a  red  light  pointed  towards 
the  approaching  train.  This  was  a  signal  for  the  engineer  to 
stop.  But  would  the  engineer  see  the  signal  in  time,  or  would 
the  rain  which  was  beating  down  in  torents  prevent  the  en- 
gineer from  seeing  the  signal  ?  It  was  an  exciting  few  seconds 
to  pass  through.  But  the  engineer  did  see  the  signal  to  stop, 
he  blew  one  long  blast  of  his  whistle,  reversed  his  engine, 
applied  the  air-brakes  which  brought  the  train  to  a  stand-^till 
right  at  the  station  door. 

A  conductor  and  brakeman  had  alighted  and  run  forward  on 
the  sudden  stop  of  the  train  as  they  thought  some  accident  had 
liappened,  inquired  of  Wooldridge  what  was  the  trouble.  lie 
replied,  "Nothing  but  two  passengers  for  Chicago.''  At  this 
time  he  and  Bell  were  aboard  the  train.  The  conductor  told 
Wooldridge  that  he  had  no  right  to  flag  the  train.  Wooldridge 
told  him  that  he  had  purchased  two  tickets  to  Chicago  with  the 
understanding  that  the  train  stopped  there  to  let  on  and  off 
passengers,  furthermore  the  card  stated  that  this  train  stopped 
there,  and  arriving  there  he  found  that  the  agent  had  aban- 
doned his  post  and  gone  home,  and  he  had  taken  it  upon  iiini- 
self  to  act  as  station  agent  for  the  time  being  and  stopping  a 
train.  He  told  the  conductor  that  he  had  to  be  in  Chicago  tlie 
following  morning  as  his  business  was  urgent,  furthermore 
he  could  not  afford  to  stand  there  all  night  in  the  rain  with- 
out shelter  because  the  station  agent  had  neglected  to  dc 
his  duty.  • 

On  gaining  admission  to  the  car  Bell  was  made  comforlnitlc: 


A  HEARTLESS  FRAUD  407 

By  turning  two  seats  together  he  had  two  big  pillows  on  which 
he  might  rest  his  head, 

Wooldridge  then  stooped  down  and  unlaced  Bell's  shoes 
so  he  conld  rest  his  tired  feet,  he  then  called  the  portsr  and 
gave  Bell's  shoes  to  him  with  orders  to  shine  them  up  and 
keep  them  until  the  detective  called  for  them  next  morning. 

Wooldridge  then  reached  down,  into  his  traveling  bag,  took 
out  a  pair  of  leg-irons  which  he  placed  around  Bell's  legs, 
and  locked  them  securely.  Bell  made  a  protest  and  assured 
the  detective  that  he  would  not  give  him  any  trouble  or  make 
any  attempt  to  get  away.  Wooldridge  told  him  the  first  law 
of  human  nature  was  self-protection  and  he  was  exercising  that 
precaution  in  this  case. 

Only  a  few  weeks  prior  to  this  time  an  officer  was  returning 
from  N'ew  York  with  a  prisoner  and  neglected  to  take  these 
precautions,  dosed  off  into  a  little  sleep,  the  train  had  just 
then  stopped  to  take  on  coal,  the  prisoner  only  had  handcuffs 
on,  and  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  passed  the  officer  who  was 
asleep  and  succeeded  in  getting  off  the  train  just  as  it  started. 
His  escape  was  not  noticed  by  the  officer  until  they  had  gone 
several  miles;  it  was  then  too  late,  the  bird  had  flown,  and 
having  money  in  his  pocket  found  a  man  who  filed  the  shackles 
off  his  hands.  He  made  good  his  escape  and  the  officer  lost 
his  job. 

After  Bell  had  been  securely  shackled  and  made  as  com- 
fortable as  possible,  Wooldridge  turned  two  seats  together  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  car,  never  closed  his  eyes  until  they 
reached  Chicago  the  following  morning,  taking  Bell  to  the 
Bureau  of  Identification,  had  his  measure  and  picture  taken. 
He  Avas  then  turned  over  to  Cook  County  Sheriff. 

A  few  months  later  J.  H.  Bell  was  arraigned  for  trial  and 
confronted  by  over  thirty  angry  women,  Avhom  he  had  robbed, 
as  witnesses.  After  a  long  trial  he  was  found  guilty  of  ob- 
taining money  under  the  confidence  game.  He  asked  for  a 
new  trial  which  was  denied  and  on  March  the  9th,  1907,  he 


408  A  HEARTLESS  EKAUB 

was  sentenced  to  Joliet  Penitentiary  for  an  indefinite  time  by 
Judge  Brentano.  llis  counsel  asked  for  the  arrest  of  judg- 
ment so  ho  might  have  time  to  write  up  the  record  and  present 
it  to  the 

Then  the  Bell  luck,  which  could  beat  even  detectives,  broke 
Bell's  way.  Also  the  Bell  honesty  suifercd  a  recrudescence.  It 
so  happened  that  while  Bell  was  in  the  County  Jail  a  ])lot  was 
set  on  foot  to  make  a  big  jail  delivery. 

It  was  planned,  and  the  plans  seemed  to  have  been  well 
arranged,  to  smuggle  enough  dynamite  into  the  jail  to  wreck 
even  that  formidable  building.  The  plot  was  hatched  by 
Gleorge  Smith,  Eugene  Sullivan,  ^lorris  Fitzgerald  and  Alfred 
Thompson. 

On  March  2,  1907,  this  precious  crew  had  been  arrested  for 
robbing  a  mail  \^gon.  They  were  apprehended  and  taken  t< 
the  County  Jail.  There  they  hatched  the  plot  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  dynamite.  Many  other  prisoners  were  admitted 
to  their  secret,  among  them  Bell. 

Smith,  who  was  as  1)ig  and  powerful  as  Bell  was  litth>  .-ind 
insignificant,  threatened  to  choke  Bell  to  death  in  his  cell  if 
he  told  of  the  dynamite  plot. 

Bell's  spirit  appeared  to  be  as  big  as  the  other  man's  body. 
This  may  have  been  due  to  the  fact  that  he  saw  that  "peach- 
ing"' on  his  confederates  was  the  only  method  of  escape.  Any- 
way Bell  "peached."  He  told  of  the  dynamite  plot  and  the 
dynamite  was  seized.  Dr.  J.  A.  Wesener  afterward  declared 
that  there  was  enough  of  it  to  have  destroyed  the  whole 
l)uilding. 

It  was  so  undoubtedly  true  that  Bell  had  been  of  service  to 
I  he  state  in  revealing  this  plot  that  a  plea  for  clemency  was 
made  for  him  and  so  he  escaped  the  penalty  for  his  crimes. 

But  the  experiences  of  Bell,  and  the  fear  of  Detective  Clifton 
1'.  Wooldridge  had  the  salutary  effect  of  putting  a  stop  to  tlie 
•'Show-Card   Writing"   fraud   in   Chicago. 


THE   BOGUS   MINE, 


$100,000,000  EACH  YEAR  LOST  BY  INVESTMENTS 

IN  FAKE  MINING 

SCHEMES. 

To  what  extent  investment  swindlers  have  operated  in  Illi- 
nois will  never  be  known,  for  some  of  them  have  so  thoroughly 
covered  up  their  transactions  that  it  will  be  impossible  to  dis- 
close them.  This  is  especiall}^  true  of  a  class  of  mining  com- 
panies, the  promoters  of  which  remained  in  the  background 
wliile  their  dupes  were  gathered  in  by  seemingly  respectable 
residents.  These  concerns  operated  by  giving  blocks  of  stock 
into  the  hands  of  unscrupulous  men  with  good  or  fairly  good 
reputations,  and  the  latter  disposed  of  it  to  such  unsophisticated 
acquaintances  as  could  be  easily  gulled. 

Gold  and  silver  mines  in  Colorado,  N"evada  and  Utah  fur- 
nished the  basis  for  most  of  these  swindles.  Sometimes  the 
company  really  had  an  old  mine  or  claim  that  had  been  aban- 
doned, sometimes  it  had  a  lease  on  some  worthless  piece  of 
property  that  was  "about  io  be  developed,^'  but  frequently  it 
liad  nothing  more  than  its  gaudy  prospects  and  its  highly  dec- 
orated shares  of  stock  to  give  in  return  for  the  money  it  re- 
ceived. Money-grasping  church  deacons  were  the  favorite 
.ngents  for  these  swindles  and  widowed  women  without  busi- 
ness judgment  their  most  common  victims. 

It  is  estimated  that  in  this  country  every  year  nearly  $100,- 
000,000  are  taken  out  of  tlie  savings  of  people  of  limited  means 
by  financial  fakers,  especially  mining  and  oil  fakers.  During 
the  last  five  years  Detective  Wooldridge  has  observed  the 
"financiering"  of  several  thousand  fake  companies,  each  of 
which  secured  a  great  deal  of  money  from  ignorant  people. 

Bands   of   swindlers   repair  to  mining  camps   and   establish 


410  THE  BOGUS  MINE 

branches  there.  They  expend  a  few  hundred  dollars  for  shreds 
and  patches  of  ground  void  of  present  or  prospective  value. 

They  then  form  a  mining  corporation,  place  its  capital  stock 
at  some  enormous  figure — a  million,  two  or  three  million  dol- 
lars— appoint  themselves  or  some  of  their  confederates,  or  even 
their  dupes,  directors,  and  sell  the  worthless  claims  to  the 
company  for  a  large  proportion,  or  perhaps,  all  of  the  capital 
stock  of  the  company. 

The  stock  must  be  disposed  of  with  a  rush.  It  must  all  go 
within  a  year  or  shorter  time.  When  it  is  gone  the  suckers 
who  get  the  stock  for  good  money  may  take  the  property  of  the 
company.  They  always  find  an  empty  treasury,  worthless 
claims,  and  the  rosy  pictures  that  led  them  astray,  smothered 
in  the  fog. 

During  the  last  five  years  the  advertising  columns  of  lead- 
ing newspapers  have  been  full  of  offers  of  mining  stocks  as 
■^^sure  roads  to  fortune.''  N"early  all  of  these  mining  compan- 
ies, into  whose  treasuries  the  public  has  paid  millions,  have 
cither  been  abandoned  or  the  properties  have  been  sold  for 
debts,  and  invariably  they  bring  very  little.  The  major  por- 
tion of  receipts  of  these  companies  from  the  sales  of  stock  is 
stolen  by  their  promoters. 

Official  statistics  of  the  mining  industry  show  that  out  of 
each  one  hundred  mines,  only  one  has  become  a  success  from  a 
dividend-paying  point  of  view.  About  five  earn  a  bare  exis- 
tence, while  the  balance  turn  out  utter  failures. 

Promoter's  Word  Valueless. 

Investors  will  do  well  to  consider  that  stocks  of  mines  which 
are  only  prospective  are  the  most  risky  form  of  gambling.  In 
buying  stocks  of  the  undeveloped  mines  offered  to  the  public 
on  the  strength  of  statements  the  only  substance  of  which  is 
the  imagination  of  promoters,  one  runs  up  against  a  sure- 
thing  brace  game. 

Don't  take  the  promoter's  word  for  it.     Wlien  you  wish  tO 


THE  BOGUS  MINE  411 

place  money  where  it  can  work  for  you,  don't  bite  at  the  first 
■^'good  thing"  you  see  advertised.  It  is  to  the  interest  of  the 
man  who  wants  to  sell  you  stock  to  place  it  before  you  in  the 
rosiest  light.  Otherwise  he  knows  you  would  not  buy  it.  If 
you  want  to  buy  stock,  don't  rely  upon  what  the  seller  says, 
but  consult  others. 

Before  consulting  persons  whom  you  think  may  be  able  to 
express  an  honest  and  intelligent  opinion,  ask  the  promoter 
to  furnish  you  a  statement  of  the  condition  of  the  compan)', 
showing  its  assets  and  liabilities,  profits  and  losses,  and  an  ac- 
curate description  of  its  property. 

You  will  then  be  able  to  judge  whether  the  company  is  over- 
capitalized; whether  it  is  incumbered  with  debts  (for  debts 
may  lead  to  a  receivership),  and  if  its  earnings  may  lead  to 
permanent  dividends. 

Also  ask  for  a  copy  of  the  by-laws  of  the  company.  If,  with 
such  information  at  your  disposal,  you  cannot  get  a  correct  idea 
as  to  whether  the  stock  is  desirable  or  not,  consult  your  banker 
or  somebody  else  in  your  community  who  may  be  able  to  ad- 
vise you. 

If  some  one  offered  you  a  mortgage  on  a  certain  piece  of 
property,  common  sense  would  tell  you  to  ascertain  whether 
the  property  is  sufficient  surety  for  the  loan,  or  if  the  title  to 
the  property  is  good  and  there  are  not  prior  incumbrances 
on  it. 

The  man  who  would  buy  a  mortgage  without  ascertaining 
the  value  and  condition  of  the  surety,  would  be  considered  an 
idiot. 

'Why  not  use  the  same  precaution  when  buying  stock  ?  Don't 
believe  what  the  promoter  tells  you  about  the  value  and  pros- 
pects of  the  stock  he  wants  to  unload  on  you.  Don't  take  it 
for  granted  the  stock  offered  you  will  turn  out  a  great  money- 
maker and  dividend-payer  because  the  promoter  tells  you  so. 

The  promoter,  generally  a  person  from  another  city  and  en- 
tirely unknown  to  you,  has  no  interest  in  you,  but  is  prompted 


4r<!  THE  BOGUS  MINE 

l)y  his  own  selfish  interest  to  sell  you  something  which,  in  many 
cases,  he  himself  would  not  buy.  He  may  ftffer  you  a  good 
thing,  but  it  is  up  to  you  to  find  it  out. 

Investigation  Necessary. 

In  most  cases,  an  intelligent  investigation  will  prompt  you 
to  let  alluring  offers  of  great  wealth  for  little  money  severely 
alone.  The  observation  of  the  common-sense  rules  outlined 
above  will  save  investors  bitter  disappointments  and  heavy 
losses. 

It  is  safe  to  say  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  so-called  "Min- 
ing, Plantation  and  Air  Line''  schemes  and  "Security"  com- 
panies now  paraded  before  the  public  in  flaring  advertisements 
in  the  daily  papers,  and  through  glittering  prospectuses  sent 
through  the  mails,  are  vicious  swindles.  Men  who  operate 
these  frauds  pretend  to  be  honest  and  high-minded.  By  con- 
stant practice  of  their  wiles  upon  others  they  develop  self- 
deception  and  come  to  believe  in  their  honesty  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  Avhen  c|uestioned,  they  assume  a  good  counterfeit  of 
honest  indignation. 

Most  of  them  do  not  own  the  furniture  in  the  offices  they 
occupy  while  swindling  the  public.  It  is  a  common  practice 
for  them  to  rent  offices  in  national  bank  buildings  and  to  fur- 
nish them  with  rich  furniture  bought  on  the  installment  plan, 
to  make  the  necessary  "front."  They  spend  their  cash  capital 
for  flaring  advertisements,  sell  as  much  stock  as  they  can  in- 
duce the  gullible  public  to  buy,  and  then  decamp,  leaving  un- 
paid bills  for  advertising,  if  they  can  get  credit  after  their 
cash  is  exhausted,  and  their  furniture  bill  unpaid.  The  al)- 
seonding  swindler  is  usually  succeeded  by  an  "agent"  or  "man- 
ager," who  repudiates  the  bills  against  his  rascally  predecessor 
and  continues  th(>  work  of  fleecing  the  gnllible  under  som(>  new 
title  or  by  means  of  some  new  trick. 

Keep  Lists  of  Suckers. 
Kvcrv  well-equipped    fraudulent   eoneern   actpnres   the   munes 


THE  BOUlJiS  MINE  AVd 

and  addresses  of  susceptible  persons.  Painstaking  revisions  of 
the  lists  made  up  of  these  names  and  addresses  form  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  labor  of  the  principals  or  employes.  The 
lists  grow  as  each  advertisement  brings  inquiries  from  persons 
who,  either  through  curiosity  or  desire  to  invest,  write  for  par- 
ticulars. Affiliated  swindles  operated  in  succession  by  a  gang 
of  "fakers"  use  the  same  list  of  "suckers." 

In  aflfiliated  swindles  if  the  "sucker"  does  not  succumb  and 
remit  his  money  on  the  inducements  offered  by  one  concern, 
his  name  is  transferred  to  the  lists  of  another,  and  he  is  then 
bombarded  with  different  literature.  Thus  a  man  must  pass 
through  the  ordeal  of  having  dozens  of  tempting  offers  made 
him  before  he  demonstrates  that  he  is  not  a  "sucker,"  or  has 
not  got  the  money.    His  name  is  then  stricken  from  the  list. 

There  are  so  many  "get-rich-quick"  operators  at  present 
that  competition  between  them  has  become  strenuous.  They 
are  now  infesting  the  entire  country  with  local  solicitors,  who 
frequent  saloons,  hotels,  and  even  residence  districts,  where 
victims  are  found  in  foreigners,  ignorant  servant  girls  and  in- 
experienced widows. 

These  solicitors  get  50  per  cent  commission  on  all  sales  of 
stock.  This  fact  in  itself  is  evidence  that  the  propositions  are 
rank  swindles.  When  the  swindling  operator  finds  things  get- 
ting too  hot  he  disappears  from  his  office  and  bobs  up  in  some 
new  place  with  a  new  proposition. 

Pecksniffian  Tears  Delude. 

A  few  attempts  have  been  made  to  prosecute  the  swindlers, 
but  for  the  most  part  the  local  officials  have  failed.  In  but  few 
instances  have  the  victims  been  able  to  give  anything  like  in- 
telligent statements  of  the  representations  made  to  them. 
Where  the  right  sort  of  agents  have  been  used  the  people  who 
have  lost  their  money  have  not  awakened  to  the  fraud  passed 
upon  them.  A  few  Pecksniffian  tears  have  deluded  them  into 
the  belief  that  the  swindlers  as  well   as  themselves  were  vie- 


414  THE  BOGUS  MINE 

tims  of  some  third  party  who  is  in  another  state  and  out  of 
reach. 

Where  cases  have  heen  brought  to  trial  it  has  been  a  difficult 
matter  for  juries  to  understand  how  the  persons  aggrieved  could 
'  have  been  caught  with  the  sort  of  chaff  thrown  to  them,  and 
there  has  been  little  disposition  to  show  charity  for  the  victims. 
Then,  too,  the  men  hauled  before  the  courts  have  always  made 
it  appear  they  were  in  the  same  boat  with  the  complaining 
witness,  and  that  the  culprit  was  many,  many  miles  away.  So, 
usually,  they  have  escaped. 

Difficult  to  Convict. 

Even  in  the  most  flagrant  cases  and  where  every  advantage 
was  taken  of  the  ignorance,  inexperience  or  trustfulness  of  the 
person  deluded  it  has  been  difficult  to  bring  the  offense  under 
the  state  statutes.  It  requires  more  than  ordinary  misrepre- 
sentation and  lying  to  make  out  a  criminal  case,  and  under  the 
rules  of  evidence  which  prevail  it  is  almost  impossible  to  over- 
take a  cheat  who  has  not  put  his  misrepresentation  into  writ- 
ing or  made  them  in  the  presence  of  third  parties. 

Where  the  swindlers  have  used  the  mails,  however,  it  is  not 
such  a  difficult  matter  to  convict.  The  United  States  is  scrupu- 
lously jealous  of  its  postal  service,  and  under  its  statutes  every 
fellow  wlio  undertakes  to  utilize  it  for  improper  purposes  can 
*be  brought  to  book.  lie  can  not  hide  behind  some  one  in  an- 
other state,  for  the  federal  jurisdiction  is  general  and  the  other 
man  can  be  brought  in.  Nor  can  he  plead  that  the  business  was 
legally  licensed  in  another  state,  or  that  its  incorporation  was 
regular.  If  it  was  a  cheat  and  the  mails  were  used  in  further- 
ance of  its  design,  no  corporate  cloak  thrown  around  it  by  any 
of  the  commonwealths  can  save  the  promoters. 
Power  of  Uncle  Sam. 

An  example  of  llie  power  of  the  federal  authorities  was  given 
when  Secretary  of  State  Rose  of  Illinois  was  trying  to  keep  the 
swindling  investment  companies  out  of  the  state.     This  was 


THE  BOGUS  MINE  415 

before  the  enactment  of  the  present  law  regulating  the  licens- 
ing of  corporations.  A  number  of  concerns  had  been  formed 
in  southern  states,  and  they  were  insolently  demanding 
licenses  to  do  business  in  Illinois.  The  secretary  of  state  was 
po^\erless  under  the  Illinois  statutes,  but  when  the  matter  was 
called  to  the  attention  of  the  federal  authorities  they  wiped 
out  tlie  whole  lot  of  companies  with  a  postal  fraud  order. 

WOOLDRIDGE    FiNDS    SMOOTH    SCHEME. 

Detective  Wooldridge,  in  looking  into  many  of  these  mining 
frauds,  discovered  one  or  two  which  proved  quite  a  revelation 
even  to  the  United  States  authorities.  This  was  a  system  of 
"kiting"  stocks,  just  as  other  fraud  concerns  have  been  known 
to  kite  checks.     The  method  is  very  simple. 

James  Johnson,  of  Indiana,  is  "roped  in"  by  one  of  the 
smooth  young  men  who  operate  for  the  schemers.  James  buys 
500  or  1,000  shares  in  the  Holy  Moses  mine,  located  in  or  near 
Goldfield,  Eeno,  Rawhide,  Cripple  Creek,  or  some  other  well 
known  mining  camp.  The  "Holy  Moses"  is  a  hole  dug  in  the 
.side  of  a  hill,  and  all  that  will  ever  come  out  of  it  is  soil. 
But  that  part  does  not  matter.  Under  certain  strict  laws  now 
prevailing  only  so  much  stock  can  be  issued  even  by  the  schem- 
ers. 

James  Johnson  holds  his  thousand  shares  for  three  months. 
By  this  time  all  the  stock  has  run  out  and  the  firm  is  at  the 
end  of  the  rope,  apparently;  but  no,  they  have  found  a  way  to 
stretch  that  rope. 

William  Wilson,  of  Michigan,  is  clamoring  for  a  thousand 
shares  of  the  "Holy  Moses."  There  is  no  stock  to  sell  him,  and 
if  any  more  is  printed  and  issued  the  waiting  detectives  will 
swoop  doAvn  at  once,  for  word  has  gone  forth  that  the  "Holy 
Moses"  is  a  non-producer.  How  to  get  that  thousand  shares 
for  Wilson  is  the  problem. 

"Holt  Moses"  Rises? 
Aha;  it  is  easy.    A  letter  is  drafted  to  James  Johnson,  bear- 


4ie  THE  BOGUS  MINE 

ing  to  him  the  gladsome  news  that  *'Holy  Moses"  has  gone 
up,  away  up,  and  that  the  stock  is  mounting  by  leaps  and 
bounds.  Does  James  Johnson  wish  to  sell  his  stock  at  a  sub- 
stantial advance?    James  Johnson  does. 

Well,  the  philanthropic  owners  of  the  "Holy  Moses"  will 
put  that  stock  on  the  market  for  him  at  once  and  send  him  the 
proceeds,  if  he  will  kindly  send  in  his  stock  with  authority  for 
transfer  in  blank. 

The  Indiana  sucker  bites  at  the  bait  and  sends  in  his  thou- 
sand shares  to  be  sold.  Xo  sooner  do  they  reach  the  office  than 
I  hey  are  immediately  started  off  to  Michigan  to  Wilson,  after 
the  precaution  has  been  taken  to  remove  Johnson's  name  from 
the  face  of  the  stock  and  substitute  Wilson's.  The  authority 
for  transfor  in  blank,  and  the  fact  that  the  transaction  is  a 
transfer  of  stock,  is  thus  kept  from  Wilson. 

In  due  course  of  time  a  fat  check  from  Wilson  finds  its  way 
into  the  coffers  of  the  "Holy  Moses"  promoters.  And  also,  in 
due  course  of  time,  Johnson  wants  to  know  something  about 
that  sale. 

"Holy  Moses"  Falls. 

He  is  met  with  the  doleful  news  that  while  his  stock  was 
on  the  way  to  Chicago,  or  elsewhere,  the  stock  in  "Holy  Closes" 
had  experienced  such  a  decided  slump  that  it  was  impossible 
for  them  to  sell  it  at  a  profit.  If  he  desires,  they  will  hold  the 
stock  for  a  raise,  which  they  expect  as  soon  as  the  present  un- 
fortunate financial  panic  has  passed,  or  until  industrials  begin 
to  go  up.  The  drop  in  "Holy  Moses"  is  not  due  to  any  slump 
in  the  production  of  the  mine :  far  from  it.  It  is  only  the  un- 
fortunate financial  depression  which  is  to  blame,  and  there  is 
no  doubt  but  that  "Holy  Moses"  will  go  up  a-whooping  very 
soon. 

Naturally  Johnson  bites  again,  and  says  hold  the  stock  for 
that  raise,  ^loanwhile  the  stock  has  been  procured  again  from 
Wilson  and  sent  to  Baker,  in  Kentucky.  And  so  on,  indefinitely. 
It  19  only  when  some  of  the  swindled  ones  become  particularly 


THE  BOdUS  MINE  417 

savage  that  their  stock  is  returned  "to  them.  And  then  it  is  not 
their  original  stock  at  all,  but  a  new  thousand  shares  which 
some  sucker  has  sent  in. 

One  block  of  stock  in  one  company  was  sold  in  this  way  in 
1907  by  a  Chicago  mining  company,  no  less  than  twelve 
times. 

The  activities  of  Detective  Wooldridge  afterward  put  this 
firm  out  of  business,  and  the  head  promoter  was  arrested  in  the 
West  by  the  federal  authorities. 

It  is  well  that  all  these  facts  should  be  taken  into  consid- 
oration  by  the  public  before  investing  in  mining  shares. 

First  Principles  in  Mining  Purchases. 
Here  are  a  few  good  leads  to  follow  in  buying  mining  stock. 
First  make  sure  that  there  is  a  producing  mine.  Then  make 
sure  that  the  stock  you  get  is  not  kited  stock.  But,  above  all, 
make  sure  of  the  responsibility,  respectability  and  solidity  of 
the  firm  from  which  you  make  the  purchase. 


A  GIANT  SWINDLE, 


BANKS  IN  CHICAGO,  NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 
BADLY  FLEECED. 

Bogus  Notes  and  Stock — Many  Firms  Are  Victims — Pris- 
oners Said  to  Have  Practiced  Frauds  Under  Titles  of 
Corporations — Chicago,  September  14,  1906,  Detectives 
Wooldridge  and  John  Hill  Uncover  the  Fraud — Five 
Men  Arrested. 

A  remarkable  story  of  swindling  which,  extended  to  many 
cities  in  America  and  to  England,  was  disclosed,  uncovering  a 
gigantic  forgery  and  check  kiting  plot  as  well  as  several  fraudu- 
lent stock  selling  schemes. 

Chicago  Concerns  Are  Victims. 
Banks  and  business  concerns,  especially  in  Chicago,  suffered 
through  the  operations  of  the  men.  Their  methods  came  to 
the  attention  of  John  Hill,  Jr.,  connected  with  the  Board  of 
Trade,  and  Detective  Wooldridge  learned  enough  to  convince 
them  and  the  men  behind  institutions  the  objects  of  which  were 
to  obtain  money  fraudulently. 

Some  of  tlie  places  which  have  been  mulcted  are: 
Commercial  National  Bank,  August  15 ;  bogus  note  for 
$1,078.  Stromberg,  Allen  &  Co.,  printers,  302  Clark  street; 
bogus  note  for  $206.  E.  B.  Padgham  &  Co.,  packing  boxes,  59 
Dearborn  street ;  bogus  note  for  $300.  Matthew  Hallohan,  42 
River  street,  September  12;  bogus  note  for  $190. 

Loses  All  of  Savings. 
'  Julius  Kadisch,  2509  South  Halsted  street,  a  German  who 
;  lost  $700  in  the  wreck  of  the  National  Fireproofing  Company, 
I  told  the  police  of  the  unique  methods  used  by  Johnston  in 
I  selling  him  the  stock.  He  asserts  that  Johnston  told  him  that 
the  stock  would  pay  at  least  8  per  cent  dividends,  and  as  proof 


A  GIANT  SWINDLE 


419 


FORGED  NOTES  CAUSE  FIVE  ARRESTS 

mm  STOLEN  mf\  banks 

THRQUGh  PLOT  OF  SWINDLERS 

Prisoner  accused  as  principal  in  mammonth  swindling  plot  in  which 
many  banks  are  victims,  and  a  fac-simj"Ie  of  one  of  the  notes  by  which 
money  was  obtained. 


'^fj^}^y^d&}^M 


SQMPMSJea  mTM£:.ywcnP££K^ 


430  A  <IJAN1^  S\\'JNDLE 

of  the  prosperity  of  the  company  took  him  to  the  downtown  dis- 
trict and  showed  ])\in  several  skyscrapers  which  he  claimed 
were  owned  by  the  corporation.  Radisch  also  says  that  John- 
ston also  pointed  out  a  bank  where  he  said  the  company  had 
immense  snms  on  deposit.  The  story  told  by  Radisch  is  pecu- 
liarly a  sad  one,  as  the  money  lost  by  him  in  tlie  crash  of  the 
Fireproofing  company  represented  the  savings  of  a  lifetime  of 
hard  labor.  Shortly  after  the  discovery  that  his  money  was  lost 
his  wife  died. 

One  Capitalized  at  $1,000,000. 

The  concerns  most  frequently  used  by  the  men  in  their  trans- 
actions, the  police  sa}',  were  known  as  National  Fire  Proofing 
Company  of  New  York  and  the  Federal  Trust  Company  of 
South  Dakota.  The  fire  proofing  company  was  stated  to  be 
capitalized  at  $1,000,000  and  the  trust  company  at  $100,000. 

Offices  for  each  concern  were  at  1138  Broadway,  New  York. 
From  there,  it  is  charged,  circulars  and  pamphlets  were  sent 
out  to  investors  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  it  was  also 
a  practice  of  these  concerns,  it  is  alleged,  to  open  accounts  with 
banks  and  exchange  bogus  notes  for  good  ones. 
Sheriff  in  Charge  of  Affairs. 

About  one  week  before  the  arrest  the  concerns  were  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  .sheriff  of  New  York  County,  and,  follow- 
ing this,  it  is  declared,  disclosures  were  made  which  hastened 
the  arrest  of  the  men  involved. 

Banks  and  firms  in  Chicago.  New  York,  Philadelphia  and 
London,  it  is  declared,  are  known  to  have  suffered  tlirough  the 
alleged  operations  of  the  men.  who  Avere  aided  by  companions 
in  the  different  cities. 

Most  of  the  concerns,  of  which  there  are  at  least  twelve,  all 
declared  to  be  fraudulent,  are  in  Chicago. 
List  of  Bogus  Firms. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  concerns,  the  names  of  which 
have  been  learned  bv  the  police: 


A  (ilAWV  SWINDLE  421 

National  Fire  Proofing  Company,  New  York  and  Chicago. 

Federal  Trust  Company,  New  York  and  Chicago. 

Keystone  Structure   Cleaning  Company,  Philadelphia. 

McGuire,  Johnston  &  Co.,  New  York  and  Chicago. 

Hessley,  Johnston  &  Co. 

Hessley  &  Johnston,  Chicago. 

A.  A.  Hessley,  Chicago. 

Ceorge  F.  Johnston,  Chicago. 

C.  F.  McGuire,  Chicago. 

F.  L.   Cunningham,   Chicago. 

Chester  E.  Broughn,  Chicago. 

Lincoln  Gas  Light  &  Coke  Company,  Lincoln,  Neb. 

Another  concern  dealing  with  alleged  spurious  bonds  of 
Custer  County,  Idaho,  the  police  declare,  was  under  the  direc- 
tion of  these  men. 

It  was  the  old-time  favorite  method  of  kiting  checks  and 
drafts  among  the  banks  and  private  individuals  of  the  city 
and  country  that  was  used,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  proved 
successful  in  this  instance.  Although  it  is  believed  the  men  did 
not  obtain  great  riches  in  their  operations  in  Chicago,  it  would 
have  been  only  a  question  of  time  when  they  would  have  be- 
come wealthy,  so  apparently  easy  was  it  for  them  to  get  funds. 
Opened  Many  Bank  Accounts. 

Accounts  in  banks  in  Chicago  and  other  cities  were  opened 
and  then  exchanges  of  checks  were  made  among  them.  Only 
the  over-boldness  of  their  operations  caused  their  downfall. 

An  instance  of  their  methods  would  be  the  following:  The 
Federal  Trust  Company,  one  of  their  "paper"  concerns,  would 
deposit  a  check  in  a  Chicago  bank  made  by  the  Keystone  Struc- 
ture Cleaning  Company  of  Philadelphia,  another  of  their  al- 
leged firms.  The  check  would  be  sent  east  for  collection,  and 
in  a  few  days  it  would  be  returned  marked  "No  funds." 
Offer  Bond  in  a  Settlement. 

Meanwhile  the  trust  company  had  checked  against  its  ac- 
count, to  which  the  Keystone  Structure  Cleaning  Company's 


423  A  GlAxNT  SWINDLE 

check  had  been  credited.  When  the  check  was  returned  from 
the  eastern  bank  the  Chicago  bank  would  notify  the  Federa! 
Trust  Company  of  the  non-payment  of  it.  The  Chicago  firm 
would  then  offer  explanation  and  apologies  and  give  a  5  per 
cent  to  concerns  that  cashed  the  checks. 

When  they  came  back,  the  men  who  got  the  money  were 

shocked  beyond  measure  and  at  once  offered  stock  and  bonds 

of  twice  the  face  A-aluo  of  the  money  involved  as  security.    This 

quieted  the  fears  and  enabled  the  schemers  to  go  on. 

Five  Mek  Are  Arrested  by  Detectives  W^ooldridge  and 

Barry. 

Five  men  were  arrested  by  Detectives  Wooldridge  and  Barry, 
charged  with  operating  twelve  concerns.  The  Commercial 
J^ational  Bank  was  one  of  the  victims.  The  men  arrested  are 
as  follows: 

Chester  A.  Brouglm,  broker,  218  La  Salle  street. 

S.  L.  Cunningham.  ^^G  years  old,  1009  ^Vest  Jackson  boule- 
vard. 

C.  F.  McGuire,  40  years  old,  arrested  at  the  Great  Northern 
Hotel. 

George  F.  Johnston,  36  years  old,  arrested  at  185  Dearborn  >St. 

Alvin  A.  Hessley,  48  years  old,  arrested  at  185  Dearborn  St. 
Tool  Tells  Truth — Usher  of  Church  in  Crime  Cloud. 

At  the  age  of  50  years,  S.  L.  Cunningham,  vestryman  anfl 
Sunday  School  teacher  and  chief  usher  in  the  Jackson  Boule- 
vard Christian  Church,  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  is 
"just  an  old  fool,  after  all."" 

Mr.  Cunningham  was  arrested  recently  on  the  charge  of 
being  one  of  a  gang  of  forgers  and  "get-rich-quick*'  men  who 
bave  been  swindling  Chicago  and  New  York  business  houses 
and  banks  during  the  last  few  months.  He  says  his  only  con- 
nection with  the  gang  was  in  selling  stock  until  a  short  time 
ago  for  the  National  Fireproof  Paint  Company,  one  of  tbi* 
concerns  raided,  and  lending  his  bank  accoimt  to  George  F. 


A  GIANT  SWINDLE  123 

Johnston,  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the 
gang. 

Mr.  Cunningham  looks  like  a  bishop.  His  hair  is  white  and 
his  appearance  distinguished.  His  story  is  an  illustration  of 
the  manner  in  which  swindling  concerns  procure  one  or  two 
men  of  weight  and  respectability  in  a  community  to  act  as 
their  advance  agents  and  establish  confidence. 

As  he  sat  on  the  white-pillared  porch  of  his  residence,  sur- 
rounded by  his  wife  and  sympathetic  neighbors   and  church 
members,  his  face  in  the  gaslight  showed  the  marks  of  grief 
through  which  he  has  passed  since  his  arrest. 
Cunningham  Tells  the  Story. 

'^Yes,"  he  said,  "we  of  the  fold  often  go  astra}^,  but  I  am 
innocent.  I  have  a  Sunday  School  class  of  young  girls  that  I 
am  going  to  take  out  into  Lincoln  Park  tomorrow.  I  hardly 
know  what  to  say  to  them.  I  can't  bear  to  think  of  taking  my 
place  as  head  usher  on  Sunday,  although  my  pastor  tells  me  to 
march  down  the  aisle  with  my  head  erect.  I  am  getting  to 
be  an  old  man,  you  see,  and  I  have  never  wilfully  wronged 
a  person  in  my  life."  His  voice  trembled,  but  his  wife  laid 
her  hand  on  his  arm  and  he  straightened  up. 

"I  know  nothing  of  these 'men  except  Mr.  Johnston,"  he 
said.  "I  was  introduced  to  him  by  a  friend  of  mine  three 
months  ago.  I  have  sold  stock  and  insurance  for  the  last 
twenty  years,  and  I  thought  he  had  a  good  thing  in  the  Na- 
tional Fireproof  Paint  CompanA^  so  I  started  selling  stock 
for  him.  I  could  not  sell  the  stock,  as  I  could  not  show  enough 
assets,  so  I  quit  two  weeks  ago.  I  was  a  fool,  and  a  dupe,  all 
right. 

Bank  Account  Overdrawn. 

'•Johnston,  a  young  man,  told  me  he  was  hard  up  and  asked 
to  use  my  bank  account  at  the  Commercial  National.  I  let 
him  and  endorsed  his  checks.  My  wife  told  me  not  to  do  it, 
but  I  thought  he  was  all  right  then.  Well,  he  overdrew  the 
account,  the  check  was  protested,  and  when  my  name  was  found 


424  A  GIANT  SWINDLE 

they  arrested  me.  I  never  knew  any  of  the  other  men,  al- 
though I  saw  them  aronnd  the  office.  They  did  too  much  whis- 
pering, and  I  thought  it  did  not  look  well." 

Then,  in  a  simple  wa}',  he  went  on  to  tell  of  his  wife  and 
his  work  in  the  church.  He  produced  a  letter  from  the  pastor 
of  his  church,  the  Rev.   Parker  Stockdale: 

"This  introduces  Mr.  Cunningham,  a  member  of  my  church. 
He  enjoys  among  us  the  reputation  of  a  thorough  gentleman 
and  a  conscientious  business  man.  He  is  a  highly  respected 
and  useful  citizen.     His  honesty  is  beyond  question." 

He  also  had  a  letter  from  Col.  Jonathan  Merriam,  formei- 
United  States  pension  agent,  which  was  along  the  same  lines. 
Offer  of  Bribe  Alleged. 

Broughn,  the  broker,  is  a  man  of  a  different  stripe,  accord- 
ing to  Detective  Barry,  who  arrested  him.  When  he  was  in- 
formed of  his  arrest  he  is  said  by  the  detective  to  have  replied : 

"Come  down  to  the  saloon  next  door.  I  will  settle  the  case 
at  once.     Name  your  price." 

When  arraigned  before  Justice  Cochrane  the  cases  were  con- 
tinued until  September  24.  All  the  men  were  released  on 
$1,200  bonds  each,  with  the  exception  of  Broughn,  whose  bail 
was  fixed  at  $800.  The  bonds  were  signed  by  a  professional 
bondsman  at  the  Harrison  Street  Police  Station. 

C.  F.  McGuire  forfeited  his  bond  and  fled  to  New  York  City, 
where  he  was  apprehended  and  arrested  by  New  York  author- 
ities at  the  request  of  John  j\[.  Collins,  the  Chief  of  Police. 
The  information  which  led  to  his  arrest  was  secured  by  Detec- 
tive Wooldridge,  who  was  made  a  special  messenger  by 
Charles  S.  Deneen,  Governor  of  Illinois. 

C.  F.  McGuire  was  a  powerfully  built  man,  weighing  240 
pounds  and  standing  over  6  feet  tall.  He  was  turned  over  by 
the  New  York  authorities  to  Detective  Wooldridge,  who  slipped 
on  him  a  pair  of  handcuffs  and  crossed  over  to  Jersey  City  on 
a  ferry,  and  from  there  took  a  section  in  a  Pullman  car  on 
a  fast  train  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad, 


A  GIANT  SWliNDLE  i2o 

McGuire  was  put  to  bed  in  the  upper  berth,  after  he  un- 
(b'ossed.  Detective  Wooldridge  told  him  he  was  bringing  him 
back  like  a  gentleman,  but  the  first  law  of  nature  was  self- 
protection.  The  detective  then  requested  him  to  turn  over  all 
his  clothes  except  his  night  shirt,  which  was  done.  Wooldridge 
then  placed  the  clothes  under  the  mattress  in  the  berth  below, 
which  he  was  to  occupy.  He  then  took  out  a  pair  of  leg  irons, 
tied  a  strong  cord  to  them,  placed  the  leg  irons  on  McGuire, 
threw  the  cord  back  behind  the  berth  below,  and  this  was 
tied  to  his  hands  after  he  had  buttoned  the  berth  curtains  and 
pinned  them  with  safety  pins  all  the  way  down.  The  curtains 
were  then  stuffed  in  under  his  mattress.  After  all  this  was 
done  Wooldridge  then  laid  down  with  his  clothes  on  and  laid 
awake  until  morning,  but  managed  to  get  some  rest  by  laying 
down. 

Chicago  was  reached  in  safety.  After  taking  McGuire  to 
the  bureau,  where  Bertillon  measurements  were  taken  and  his 
finger  prints  recorded,  he  was  turned  over  to  the  sheriff  of 
Cook  County. 

The  trial  was  set,  which  lasted  five  days.  Witnesses  were 
brought  from  the  banks  in  N^ew  York  City  and  Philadelphia 
which  had  been  victimized. 

February  7,  1908,  found  guilty. 
Check  "Kiters"  Heavily  Fixed— George  F.  Johnston  and 
C.  F.  McGuire  Assessed  $2,000  Each. 

A  jury  in  Judge  Kersten's  court  later  returned  a  verdict 
finding  George  F.  Johnston  and  C.  F.  McGuire  guilty  of 
swindling  and  im.posed  a  fine  of  $3,000  each.  If  the  fine  be 
not  paid  the  defendants  will  be  compelled  to  serve  the  amount 
at  the  rate  of  $1.50  a  day  in  the  Bridewell.  Chester  A.  Broughn 
and  A.  H.  Hessley  entered  pleas  of  guilty  at  the  last  minute 
and  their  cases  Mill  be  disposed  of  later  by  Judge  Kersten. 
State's  Attorney  John  J.  Healy  and  Assistant  State's  Attorney 
Barbour  expressed  themselves  as  pleased  over  the  outcome  of 
the  trial. 


QUACKS. 


RASCALS    WHO    PREY    UPON    THE    IGNORANT. 

The   "Specialist,"  the  ^'Optician,"  the  "Doctors'  College"; 
All  Frauds. 

Blackmail  Helps  Medical  Scamps — Poor  Girls  Victims  of 
"Doctor"  Thieves. 

The  history  of  quacks  and  quackery  includes  some  of  the 
most  glaring  frauds  ever  perpetrated  on  a  credulous  people.  In 
all  ages  of  the  world's  history  down  to  the  present  day,  these 
humbugs  have  cut  an  important  figure  in  their  day  and  gen- 
eration. They  are  numerous  in  almost  every  line  of  business, 
serving  God  when  it  pays  them  to  do  it,  and  assisting  the  devil 
when  their  interests  demand  it.  In  these  pages  I  propose  to 
deal  with  medical  quacks  only. 

The  advent  of  every  discovery  in  medicine,  slight  though  it 
may  be,  has  brought  to  the  front  a  ring  of  pretenders  in  the 
healing  art.  These  fellows  catch  the  multitude.  The  poor, 
the  ignorant  and  the  credulous  are  their  followers.  It  has 
been  so  in  every  age  of  the  world's  history.  The  man  or  woman 
with  broken  health  will  catch  at  every  straw  that  offers  hope 
of  recovery,  and  so  they  drift  from  one  quack  to  another,  until 
ruined  in  fortime  and  oftentimes  made  worse  iii  their  physical 
ills,  they  at  last  pass  to  the  silent  home  where  the  pain  and 
joy  the  cunning  and  simplicity  of  the  world  are  alike  of  in- 
significance. 

The  desire  to  live  lurks  in  the  heart  of  nearly  every  human 
being.  And  no  matter  how  wretched  they  may  be,  how  poor 
in  pocket,  broken  in  spirit,  whether  suffering  from  real  or 
imaginary  ills,  thirsting  for  relief,  they  have  gone  from  quack 
to  quack,  giving  of  their  meager  savings   for  some  vaunted 


QUACKS  427 

elixir  which  in  all  probability  only  hastens  their  journey  to  the 
grave. 

One  reason  why  quackery  flourishes  is  the  fact  that  medicine 
is  not  a  science.  Ask  any  honest  physician  and  he  will  tell  you 
the  same.  A  drug  that  will  help  one  person  will  have  no 
effect  on  another.  There  are  in  the  realm  of  medicine  no  such 
things  as  "cures."  People  who  are  sick  recover,  but  they  would 
do  so  whether  they  took  '^'^dope"  or  not.  All  disease  is  self- 
limited.  The  doctor  Avho  talks  of  curing  smallpox,  measles, 
typhoid  fever,  is  a  fool.  Natures  cures,  not  the  doctor.  People 
get  well  of  these  complaints,  and  many  others  who  take  no 
medicines  and  employ  no  physicians. 

Physic  to  the  Dogs. 

Followers  of  the  late  "Elijah  Dowie"  relegated  physic  to  the 
dogs,  where  it  properly  belongs,  and  yet  enjoyed  good  health. 
Mrs.  Eddy's  converts  take  no  drugs,  not  even  simple  household 
remedies. 

Here  is  a  body  of  people  numbering  millions,  entirely  repudi- 
ating physicians,  yet  their  health  is  as  good,  if  not  better,  than 
those  who  continually  take  drugs.  Doctors  make  war  on  them. 
Why?    It  interferes  with  the  medical  graft. 

Don't  think  for  a  minute  that  advertising  doctors  are  the 
only  grafters  in  the  medical  profession.  Many  of  them  are 
l)ad,  very  bad,  hut  there  are  men  right  here  in  Chicago,  as 
well  as  other  big  cities,  who  never  advertise  in  papers,  yet  they 
are  as  notorious  swindlers,  and  will  as  quickly  take  advantage 
of  the  ignorant  and  credulous,  as  the  man  who  flaunts  his  skill 
in  the  daily  press.  To  fall  into  the  hands  of  these  fellows  is 
to  be  despoiled  in  pocket  and  ruined  in  health.  Operations 
that  are  uncalled  for  and  not  needed  are  performed  almost 
daily. 

Only  a  short  time  ago  I  heard  a  doctor  boast  of  having  re- 
moved the  ovaries  of  two  thousand  women.  How  many  of  these 
operations  were  actually  necessary  ?  Probably  very  few,  but  each 
case  enriched  him  to  the  extent  of  several  hundred  dollars. 


428  QUA0K8 

Women  more  frequently  than  men  are  the  victims  of  un- 
scrupulous .^loetor^^.  People  do  not  often  question  the  skill  or 
ihe  opinion  of  the  fashionable  physician;  they  take  for  granted 
the  truth  of  all  he  may  say,  forgetting  for  the  time  that  he 
has  a  pecuniary  interest  in  the  work  that  may  possibly  result  in 
the  death  of  the  patient. 

TTnnecessary  Operations. 

How  many  people  die  from  wholly  unnecessary  operations? 
Only  the  hospital  records  and  the  immediate  friends  of  the 
patient  can  tell. 

These  words  are  written  to  put  people  on  their  guard.  Dis- 
honest doctors  are  everywhere,  especially  in  big  cities.  Chi- 
cago is  full  of  them.  They  may  be  strictly  ethical  and  affect 
to  despise  the  advertiser.  They  do  so,  however,  only  from  a 
business  standpoint.  They  hate  opposition,  and  somehow  the 
advertising  doctor  manages  to  get  a  goodly  share  of  the  busi- 
ness, and  is  oftentimes  the  superior  in  skill  in  his  particular 
line  or  specialty  to  his  ethical  brother. 

There  are  good  doctors  and  bad  ones,  just  as  there  are  good 
and  bad  men  in  every  walk  and  business  of  life. 

In  my  experience  as  a  detective  I  have  met  with  both  kinds. 
In  these  pages  I  Avill  deal  Avith  the  advertising  doctor  only.  T 
will  do,  and  have  done,  what  I  can  to  drive  the  dishonest  ones 
out  of  the  business. 

The  eye  doctor,  professing  to  cure  blindness  or  other  dis- 
eases of  the  eye  without  the  knife,  is  one  of  the  most  dangerou> 
and  dishonest  men  in  the  medical  profession.  Chicago  has  its 
full  quota  of  this  form  of  quackery.    There  are  two  men  in  this 

city — Dr.   M and   Dr.   0 ,  who  are  national   ad- 

-^ertisers. 

Both  have  been  exposed  in  a  recent  Xew  York  weekly  paper 
at  the  instigation  of  the  American  Medical  Association.  It  is 
noteworthy,  however,  that  this  same  paper  accepted  a  full-page 

advertisement  from  Dr.  0 only  a  few  months  before 

the  expose,  thus  deluding  thousands  of  its  readers.     The  price 


QUACKS  429 

paid  for  one  page  and  one  issue  was  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 
This  sum,  paid  to  but  one  paper,  will  give  the  reader  some  idea 
of  the  vast  expense  to  which  the  quack  is  put  to  place  his  name 
before  the  public  in  his  effort  to  rob  the  blind.  This  same  Dr. 
O pays  out  annually  sixty  thousand  dollars  for  ad- 
vertising alone.  He  employs  twenty  typewriters — mostly  girls. 
The  correspondence  is  handled  entirely  by  the  clerks,  the  doctor 
rarely  ever  seeing  a  letter. 

He  employs  but  one  assistant,  a  young  man.  fresh  from  col- 
lege. jSTo  personal  interviews  with  patients  are  asked  for  or 
desired.  It  is  a  mail  order  business  almost  exclusively.  Occa- 
sionally a  patient  comes  to  the  city  to  see  this  great  oculist. 

Dr.  0 himself  is  hardly  ever  in  evidence.   He  spends 

most  of  his  time  in  summer  resorts  and  European  capitals. 

The  only  medicine  used  is  a  solution  of  boric  acid  in  water. 
The  same  can  be  bought  at  any  drug  store  for  a  few  cents. 
His  charges  are  ten  dollars  per  month. 

This  man's  mail  is  enormous.  I  have  known  him  to  take  in 
twenty  thousand  dollars  a  month.  One  of  the  catchy  lines  in 
liis  advertisement  says  he  cures  crossed  eyes  without  the  use 
of  the  knife.  This  is  true,  but  he  uses  scissors  instead.  Cross- 
eye  can  only  be  straightened  by  severing  the  muscles  of  the  eye. 
All  physicians  know  this,  but  the  people  do  not;  hence  the 
success  of  this  robber  of  the  blind. 

Dr.  0 is  a  devout  church  member.    He  is  one  of  the 

largest  contributors  to  the  Christian  Church,  to  which  he  be- 
longs.    .^NTearly  all   church    papers    carry  his   advertisements, 
tliough  they  must  know  him  to  be  a  fraud  of  the  first  water. 
Sleek  and  Unctuous  Church  Member. 

Personally  he  is  sleek  and  unctuous,  is  always  found  among 
the  godly,  takes  more  interest  in  foreign  missions  than  the 
over5^-day  affairs  of  life,  and  fully  expects  to  occupy  a  seat  in 
the  parquet  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 

The  money  wrung  by  the  basest  of  false  pretenses  from  his 
poor  unfortunate  blind  victims,  does  not  disturb  his  slumbers. 


430  QUACKS 

If  he  has  any  conscience  at  all  he  fortifies  himself  with  the 
thought  that  "Jesus  will  bear  it  all/'  and  lets  it  go  at  that. 

Blind  people,  or  those  with  failing  eyesight,  beware. 

A  close  second  to  the  above-named  grafter,  and  in  the  same 
nefarious  business,  is  Dr.  M . 

This  man's  advertisements  read  very  much  like  those  of 
others  in  the  same  line  of  work.  He  also  cures  without  the 
knife,  but  uses  the  scissors.  His  treatment  is  the  same — boric 
acid  and  water. 

This  can  do  no  possible  good  except  in  slight  inflammations. 
It  cannot  cure  cataract.  It  may  be  set  down  as  a  truth  (ask 
any  honest  physician)  that  cataract  is  incurable  except  by  sur- 
gical operations.  Yet  these  men  continue  to  advertise  its  cure, 
claiming  to  have  a  specific  remedy  that  will  absorb  it.     Dr. 

^I is  wealthy,  all  made  out  of  the  blind.   While  other 

men  are  giving  of  their  wealth  to  ease  the  lives  of  these  poor 
unfortunates,  they  are  being  systematically  robbed  in  the  most 
heartless  and  shame-faced  manner. 

Priceless  is  sight.  A  man  or  woman  threatened  with  loss  of 
it  will  give  up  their  last  , dollar  for  a  prospective  cure.  Tu 
this  way  these  so-called  "eye  doctors"  fatten  on  the  credulity 
of  their  victims,  doing  them  absolutely  no  good  and  quite  often 
a  serious  injury. 

Dr.  M is  also  a  devout  church  member.     He  can 

be  seen  hanging  over  the  pew  of  a  fashionable  West  Side  churcli 
every  Sunday.  There  he  is  hailed  as  a  good  brother  by  his 
fellow  members,  many  of  whom  are  as  great,  if  not  as  suc- 
cessful, a  grafter  as  he  is.  They  use  the  cloak  of  religion  in 
which  to  serve  the  devil. 

The  "Otticiax"  Fake. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  let  me  warn  you  of  the  ex- 
istence of  an  army  of  "Opticians."  These  men  are  often  swind- 
lers of  the  first  water.  Their  misrepresentations  as  to  the  money 
value  of  glasses  amounts  to  grand  larceny.  They  charsre  all  the 
way  from  ion  to  soventy-fivc  dollars  for  n  pair  of  lenses  tba"i 


(QUACKS  131 

usually   cost   seventy-five   cents   each.      There    ;ire   hoiiesi    men 
in  the  business,  but  beware  of  the  grafter. 

There  are  many  lesser  lights  engaged  in  the  ej^e  business,  but 
the  examples  given  above  will  serve  to  place  you  on  your  guard. 
Take  no  treatment  by  mail.  Less  can  be  done  for  the  eye  than 
any  other  organ  of  the  body,  unless  it  is  the  ear.  Both  are  so 
complex  in  their  anatomy  and  the  symptoms  so  obscure  that  it 
is  an  impossibility  to  make  a  correct  diagnosis  without  seeing 
the  patient  and  using  the  best  instruments  that  science  can 
bring  to  the  aid  of  the  physician. 

Consumption  Cures. 

A  few  years  ago  Dr.  Koch,  of  Berlin,  Germany,  announced 
that  he  had  discovered  a  cure  for  consumption.  The  same  an- 
nouncement has  been  made  thousands  of  times  before  by  more 
or  less  illustrious  physicians. 

Dr.  Koch's  cure  was  a  gas,  requiring  more  or  less  elaborate 
apparatus.  Several  years'  trial  of  this  supposed  cure  con- 
vinced the  medical  profession,  and  Dr.  Kocli  himself,  that  he 
was  mistaken. 

He  retracted  his  statements  and  acknowledged  he  had  'been 
in  error.  Yet  in  every  large  city  of  the  country,  Chicago,  of 
course,  included,  there  are  established  "Koch  Institutes"  for 
the  cure  of  consumption. 

A  more  brazen  fraud  was  never  perpetrated  on  an  ignorant 
public  than  the  claims  which  these  so-called  institutes  adver- 
tise. They  are  patronized  chiefly  by  the  poor — those  who  hsw 
been  told  by  honest  physicians  that  they  are  incurable.  Having 
no  means  with  which  to  take  trips  to  the  mountain  or  sea 
shore,  they  grasp  at  every  quack  medicine  or  institute  that  offers 
hope  of  recovery. 

I  have  visited  the  Chicago  branch  of  this  miserable  fraud. 
Invalids  who  can  scarcely  walk  are  to  be  seen  there  daily  in- 
haling mixtures  of  nauseous  gases  that  have  no  more  effect  on 
the  germ  of  consumption  than  a  popgmi  on  one  of  Uncle 
Sam's  ironclads.       By  means  of  paid-for  testimonials  and  a 


43-^  QUACKS 

couple  of  "cappers,"  people  from  all  parts  of  the  country  are 
brought  here,  oftentimes  taking  the  last  dollar  of  the  family 
exchequer  to  pay  for  the  so-called  treatment.  These  frauds 
have  been  exposed  time  and  again.  However,  a  new  crop  of 
victims  are  gathered  in  every  day  and  the  game  goes  merrily 
on. 

Human  Ghouls. 

The  human  ghouls  in  the  guise  of  doctors  are  meantime  living 
in  luxury,  and  fattening  on  the  misfortunes  of  their  already 
half-dead  victims.  You  might  ask  why  does  not  the  law  step  in 
and  protect  the  sick.  If  you  had  seen  as  much  of  the  law  as 
I  have  you  would  discover  that  it  too  frequently  protects  thr 
doctors  and  not  the  patients. 

The  men  running  this  and  other  similar  frauds  are  all  li- 
censed physicians,  and  have  the  authority  of  the  great  State  of 
Hlinois  to  pursue  their  calling.  If  you  have  consumption  spend 
your  money  in  getting  good  air,  not  dope.  Drugs  never  yet 
cured  consumption.  That  is  the  testimony  of  all  honest  doctors, 
and  there  are  still  a  few  of  them  left. 

The  Morphine  Cure. 

Forty   years   ago   Dr.    C ,    of    I.aporte,    Indiana,    ti 

bricklayer  by  profession,  conceived  the  idea  of  selling  morphine 
as  a  cure  for  the  opium  habit.  Morphine  is  the  essence  of 
opium,  just  as  cocaine  is  the  essence  of  the  coca  leaf.     It  was  a 

brilliant  idea  and    brought    Dr.    C (he    afterward 

bought  diplomas  galore)  a  mint  of  money.  C con- 
structed himself  a  mansion  in  Laporte,  which  stands  today,  a 
splendid  specimen  of  the  builders'  art.  He  was  the  first  man 
to  put  on  the  market  an  opium  cure. 

The  poor  wretches  who  are  addicted  to  this  habit  would  make 
any  kind  of  a  sacrifice  for  a  cure.  The  whiskey  habit  is  not  a 
circumstance  to  the  opium  or  morphine  fiend.  There  is  no 
habit  which  so  enslaves  the  victim  as  the  drug  habit,  and  they 
are  seldom  cured.     C ran  along  for  many  years  with 


QUACKS  433 

but  few  imitators.  The  luaiiy  victims  of  morphine  whom  he 
has  gathered  into  his  net  were  pouring  in  their  wealth  until  it 
amounted   to   thousands    daily.        As   long   as   they   took   the 

C remedy  they  had  no  desire  for  morphine.       The 

"remedy"  contained  morphine — more,  usually,  than  they  had 
been  taking  before. 

"Dr."  C had  thousands  under  treatment,  but  made  no 

cures.  x\t  last  the  so-called  remedy  was  analyzed  and  its  true 
nature  discovered. 

At  once  an  army  of  imitators  sprang  into  existence  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  and  morphine  cure  became  as  common  as 
other  cures.  They  all  had  and  have  as  a  basis  opium  or  some 
of  its  salts.  The  extent  of  these  drug  addictions  is  hardly 
realized.  Chicago  alone  has  thirty  thousand  of  these  unfortu- 
nates, and  the  trade  in  opium  and  allied  drugs  is  immense. 
Encouraging  the  Morphine  Habit. 

Many  of  these  victims  date  their  downfall  from  some  sickness 
in  which  a  physician  prescribed  the  drug — perhaps  to  allay 
pain  or  produce  sleep.  When  they  recovered  they  found  they 
still  had  to  have  it.  The  habit  grew  and  finally  fastened  itself 
with  such  a  deathlike  grip  that  they  were  unable  to  shake  it 
off,  and  so  they  totter  through  life,  unfitted  for  anything  ex- 
cept to  beg,  borrow  or  lend  some  of  the  dope.  Men  and  women 
once  high  in  the  business  and  social  world  are  frequently  found 
in  the  police  dock  accused  of  some  petty  theft  in  order  to  satisf v 
their  craving  for  these  destructive  drugs. 

Chicago  has  its  quota  of  doctors  who  "cure"  the  morphine 

habit,  but  always  in  the  way  that  "Dr."  C did.     Most  of 

them  are  "fiends"  themselves  who  eke  out  a  living  selling  the 
drug  to  other  victims  in  the  form  of  a  "cure."     If  by  any 
chance  you  have  contracted  the  habit  steer  clear  of  all  so-called 
cures.     The  remedy  is  worse  than  the  disease. 
The  Cancer  Cure. 

One  can  hardly  pick  up  a  paper  or  magazine  that  does  not 
carry  the  advertisement  of  Dr.  B ,  of  Indianapolis,  Ind., 


434  QUACKS 

iwith  branch  institutes  at  Kansas  City  and  other  places.  Dr. 
B 's  remedy  is  an  oil  for  which  he  claims  wonderful  prop- 
erties. 

In  reply  to  an  inquiry  the  doctor  sends  out  a  little  book, 
filled  with  testimonials  from  grateful  patients,  dependent 
preachers  and  his  fellow  church  members.  The  book  tells  you 
that  the  doctor  has  even  built  a  church  all  by  himself  and 
maintains  it  at  his  own  expense,  even  paying  the  salary  of 
the  pastor  out  of  his  own  pocket. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  all  successful  quacks  appeal  to  the 
religious  element  of  the  community.  A  man  who  is  really 
religious  is  honest;  having  no  tinge  of  dishonesty  himself,  he 
suspects  none  in  others.  He  therefore  falls  easily  into  the  net 
of  the  charlatan. 

The  quack  knows  this,  hence  his  use  of  the  religious  press 
in  which  to  exploit  the  virtues  of  his  medicines. 

Does  Dr.  B cure  cancer?  Yes.  There  are  seven  vari- 
eties of  cancer;  two  malignant,  which  all  physicians  agree  are 
incurable,  and  five  non-malignant,  of  which  the  wart  and  wen 
are  good  examples.  Dr.  B cures  the  non-malignant  vari- 
eties only,  and  you  can  do  the  same  yourself  by  the  application 
of  a  few  drops  of  glacial  acetic  acid  to  the  growth  once  a  day. 

This  is  the  Avhole  secret  of  the  so-called  cures  wrought  by 

these  men.   Dr.  B never  cured  a  genuine  malignant  cancer 

in  his  life,  and  never  will  until  a  specific  is  discovered  that  will 
combat  it.  He  has  grown  very  rich,  is  known  as  a  public-spirited 
gentleman  and  to  say  aught  against  him  in  his  native  town  is 
to  bring  down  on  one's  head  the  wrath  of  the  business  com- 
munHy.    Why  ? 

Patients  fro:\i  Everywhere. 

Dr.  B has  patients  coming  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. They  bring  and  spend  money  at  his  sanitariums.  It  is 
''business,"  and  I  am  only  sorry  to  say  that  what  is  known  as 
business  is  too  often  larceny.  If  you  liave  a  growth  you  do 
not  understand,  trust  it  to  your  family  physician,  if  he  is  an 


QUACKS  435 

honest  man,  rather  than  to  one  of  the  many  cancer  sharks  tliat 
infest  the  country. 

The  Rupture  Cure. 

This,  when  offered  hy  mail,  as  it  is  in  almost  every  maga- 
zine that  accepts  medical  advertisements,  is  also  a  glaring  fraud 
upon  a  most  helpless  class  of  people.  While  it  is  true  that  a 
well  fitted  truss  will  retain  and  often  cure  a  rupture,  yet  the 
quacks  who  advertise  the  rupture  cure  propose  to  cure  you  by 
mail,  then  by  application  of  a  wonderful  oil  which  they  sell 
at  ten  dollars  per  bottle,  they  propose  to  close  up  the  open- 
ing through  which  the  rupture  descends  and  effect  a  perma- 
nent cure.  A  few  years  back  the  surgical  treatment  of  rupture 
was  not  always  a  success,  hence  people  so  afflicted  had  reason 
to  avoid  operations. 

Today  thg  cure  of  rupture  is  not  attended  by  any  danger. 
Surgery  has  made  many  advances  in  the  past  few  years.  Peo- 
ple who  are  ruptured  should  avoid  any  other  means  of  cure 
than  the  operations. 

There  are  not  less  than  twenty-five  advertising  specialists 
in  Chicago  w^ho  profess  to  cure  rupture  Avithout  operation. 

They  only  succeed  in  separating  you  from  your  money.     My 
advice  is  not  to  go  near  them,  lest  you  regret  it. 
Female  Diseases. 

It  is  well  known  among  the  readers  of  the  daily  press  that 
all  the  advertisements  of  a  medical  nature  addressed  to  women 
are  meant  to  cover  the  nefarious  business  of  the  abortionist. 

The  commissioner  of  health  in  a  recent  interview  stated  that 
not  less  than  fifty  thousand  abortions  are  committed  yearly 
in  Chicago.  It  is  well  to  state  that  only  a  small  number  of 
these  are  performed  by  the  advertising  abortionists.  Most  of 
them  are  the  work  of  regular  physicians. 

Indeed,  in  no  other  way  could  this  immense  destruction  of 
infant  life  take  place.  I  know  of  physicians  here  in  Chicago 
who  have  and  do  no  other  business.  I  have  in  mind  one  pala- 
tial residence  on  Michigan  avenue  patronized  exclusively  by 


436  (,)UACK« 

the  rich.  It  is  presided  over  by  a  strictly  ethical  physician. 
This  man's  fee  is  from  one  thousand  to  five  thousand  dollars. 

The  poor  content  themselves  with  less  pretentious  places  and 
prices.  I  know  of  physicians  on  the  north  side  and  the  west 
side  who  do  this  work  for  five  and  ten  dollars.  They  have  as 
many  as  ten  and  twelve  cases  a  day. 

Up  to  a  few  weeks  ago  all  of  the  Chicago  papers  contained 
a  list  of  advertisements  under  the  classification  of  medical, 
about  as  follows: 

"Maternity  Hospital — Ladies  taken  care  of  before  and  after 
confinement.'"' 

"Mrs.  Dr.  B ,  licensed  midwife,  takes  ladies  for  confine- 
ment, etc." 

"Dr.  Anna  B Elegant  home  for  ladies  expecting  con- 
finement,- etc." 

The  above  are  only  samples  of  a  long  list  of  advertisements 
of  similar  tenor  which  appeared  daily  in  the  Chicago  press  for 
twenty-five  years.  These  advertisements  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  people  in  the  country.  They  Avere  not  designed  to  at- 
tract city  people.  People  residing  here  seldom  patronize  them 
on  account  of  the  high  prices  usually  charged.  They  know 
cheaper  doctors.  Girls  from  the  smaller  towns  and  the  farms 
are  the  ones  sought. 

The  girl  applying  for  relief  at  any  of  these  places  was  usual- 
ly told  that  abortions  Avere  unlawful  and  dangerous  to  life.  She 
Avas  strongly  advised  to  stay  in  the  hospital,  Avhich  offered  per- 
fect seclusion,  until  the  full  period  when  the  child  Avould  be 
naturally  born  and  Avithout  danger  to  either  of  them.  This 
advice  Avas  generally  accepted  and  the  price  agreed  upon  paid. 
This  was  always  all  the  girl  had  Avith  her,  and  the  promise 
of  more.  The  amount  ranged  from  one  hundred  to  Aa'c  hun- 
dred dollars. 

The  money  paid  over,  the  girl  Avas  shoAvn  to  a  pleasant  room, 
and  invited  to  make  herself  at  home.  There  Avere  always  other 
girls  there,  usually  under  -issumed  names.     They  kept  coming 


QUACKS  437 

and  going  every  few  days.     None  remained  longer  than  ten 
days. 

After  the  girl  had  been  there  a  couple  of  days  the  madam 
announced  that  the  doctor  would  call  on  her  that  day  and 
make  an  examination,  so  as  to  approximate  the  time  of  baby's 
arrival. 

With  a  very  small  instrument  the  abortion  was  produced 
while  making  the  examination,  the  patient  knowing  nothing  of 
it.  This  is  done  so  deftly  that  labor  pains  do  not  come  on  for 
sometimes  two  days  afterwards. 

In  ten  days  the  patient  is  ready  to  leave  the  hospital.  The 
fee  having  been  paid,  both  parties  are  usually  satisfied,  and 
the  girl,  if  she  is  wise,  makes  her  misfortvme  a  stepping  stone 
to  something  better. 

If  the  amount  paid  has  been  too  small  to  satisfy  hospital 
funds,  an  effort  is  made  to  collect  more,  but  usually  not  from 
the  girl. 

The  madam  gets  the  patient's  confidence  and  discovers,  if 
she  can,  the  man  responsible  for  the  girl's  condition.  A  bill 
is  then  sent  him  for  several  hundred  dollars.  Should  he 
ignore  it  or  refuse  to  pay,  he  is  politely  told  that  the  account 
will  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  lawyer  in  the  town  where 
he  resides  and  the  matter  can  be  adjusted  by  a  "jury  of  his 
fellow  citizens." 

Imagine  the  consternation  of  some  business  man  or  church 
deacon  in  a  small  community  over  the  receipt  of  such  a  letter. 

If  guilty,  and  they  are  as  a  general  thing,  they  take  the 
next  train  for  Chicago  and  pay  the  bill.  Parties  running  these 
establishments  are  money  makers.  I  know  of  one  on  West 
Adams  street  whose  owner  has  made  a  fortune  of  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  all  accumulated  in  twenty 
years. 

The  Electric  Belt  Fraud. 

This  is  another  one  of  the  many  humbugs  that  seem  to 
have  fastened  themselves  on  the  country.     Chicago  is  the  cen- 


438  QUACKS 

ter  for  this  as  well  a;^  every  oilier  fake  of  a  medical  char- 
acter. 

These  belts  are  of  the  cheapest  construction  and  are  made 
at  a  cost  of  twelve  and  one-half  cents  each.  They  sell  for 
anything,  up  to  three  hundred  and  even  five  hundred  dollars. 
There  may  he  virtue  in  electricitA^  properly  applied,  but  there 
certainly  is  none  in  the  belt. 

Dr.  McL is  located  in  Chicago,  and  has  branch  offices  in 

almost  every  state  in  the  union.  He  takes  pages  in  the  daily 
press  to  tell  of  the  virtues  of  his  belt.  It  cures  everything 
from  lumbago  to  corns.  He  usually  pictures  a  man  in  a  half- 
stooping  position,  holding  his  back  with  one  hand,  while  with 
the  other  he  is  getting  a  belt  from  a  sympathizing  doctor. 

Dr.  McL has  made  big  money  duping  his  fellow  men.  Ee- 

cently  he  opened  an  office  in  the  City  of  Mexico.  There  the 
government  protects  people  somewhat  from  their  own  folly. 

A  Mexican  bought  a  belt,  guaranteed  to  cure  his  disease; 
it  failed.  The  doctor  was  promptly  arrested  for  obtaining 
money  under  false  i^retenses.  He  was  sent  to  jail,  where  he 
remained  sixteen  months. 

The  offices  were  closed  and  have  not  since  been  reopened. 
The  best  evidence  that  electric  belts  are  a  useless  article  is 
to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  physicians  neither  use  nor  pre- 
scribe them.     They  are  an  adjunct  to  quackery. 
The  Varicocele  Cure. 

To  begin  with,  varicocele  is  a  surgical  disease  and  is  only 
cured  by  an  operation.  Yet  the  daily  papers  teem  with  ad- 
vertisements offering  cures  by  drugs,  appliances  and  external 
washes. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  all  of  these  arc  fakers.  Chicago 
has  more  than  twenty  specialists  who  profess  to  cure  varico- 
cele. Only  two  of  them  fulfill  their  promises.  The  rest  take 
your  money  and  rendey  you  no  service. 

Xearly  every  paper  advertises  these  men,  such  headlines  as 
"Cured  in  Five  Davs,"  "Cured  Without  Pain." 


QUACKS  439 

^•^Five-day  varicocele  cure"  meets  the  eye  of  the  reader  oc 
nearly  every  page.  It  is  true  that  varicocele  can  be  cured 
in  five  days;  it  can  and  is  cured  in  one  treatment,  but  always 
by  surgical  means.  The  headlines  above  are  simply  baits  for 
the  afflicted. 

The  main  idea  of  the  so-called  specialist  is  to  get  the  victim 
into  his  oflfice.  Here  he  will  tell  him  that  "he  has  two  methods 
of  cure.  One  is  an  operation,  which  necessitates  the  patient 
going  to  a  hospital,  remaining  there  for  five  days  in  order 
to  effect  the  cure.  The  other  is  a  suspensory  and  a  liniment 
which,  applied  daily,  will  do  just  as  well,  but  it  requires 
three  or  four  months  to  get  the  cure. 

The  patient  wishes,  of  course,  to  avoid  an  operation.  He 
is  always  told  there  is  some  danger  from  the  chloroform.  He 
usually  takes  the  "slow  cure,''  parting  at  the  same  time  with 
a  good,  fat  fee,  usually  a  good  deal  more  than  he  would  have 
had  to  pay  a  reputable  man  for  an  operation.  At  the  end  of 
the  period  fixed  for  the  cure  the  patient  finds  himself  no  bet- 
ter and  finally  in  disgust  places  himself  in  the  hands  of  a 
man  who  does  operate  and  is  promptly  cured. 

Am-ong  the  many  men  engaged  in  the  cure  of  varicocele  is 
Dr.  Mark  K ,  of  Cincinnati  and  Denver.  This  man's  ad- 
vertisements adorn  every  page  of  papers  that  will  take  them. 
His  fee  is  $2.00 ;  his  remedy  a  suspensory  and  a  wash.  Both 
are  utterly  useless.  After  you  have  paid  your  money  your 
name  or  original  letter  is  sold  to  someone  in  the  same  business. 

In  a  little  while  you  are  surprised  to  receive  mail  from  all 
parts  of  the  country — all  wanting  you  to  purchase  a  varicocele 
cure.  This  applies  to  vacuum  pumps,  the  superior  system,  the 
Parisian  system  and  other  fakes  of  a  like  nature.  They  are 
all  frauds.  In  the  past  few  years  I  have  raided  their  places 
many  times,  seized  their  literature,  which  is  always  obscene 
and  indecent,  and  arrested  the  proprietors.  The  game,  how- 
ever, still  goes  on. 


UU  QUACKS 

The  "Nervous  Debility  Specialist." 

"Lost  Manhood  Rostored*"  is  probably  the  greatest  of  all 
medical  grafts.  These  men  succeed  simply  because  of  the 
total  ignorance  of  the  people  on  matters  pertaining  to  the 
sexual  system. 

If  sexual  physiology  was  a  part  of  the  studies  in  the  public 
schools  for  pupils  at  the  age  of  fourteen  there  would  be  no 
cases  of  nervous  debility,  and  the  "lost  manhood"  physician 
woiild  have  to  seek  other  fields  for  the  display  of  his  talents. 

One  of  the  saddest  of  all  the  habits  that  young  men  drop 
into  at  some  period  of  their  lives  is  the  secret  vice.  Until 
quite  lately  prudery  has  prevented  its  proper  discussion  and 
about  the  only  literature  on  the  subject  was  to  be  found  in 
that  issued  by  advertising  doctors  who  treat  the  effects. 

One  thing  is  certain — ^no  one  ever  acquired  the  habit  by 
reading  one  of  these  "scare"  or  quack  books.  John  Stuart 
Mill,  in  speaking  of  this  vice,  says:  "The  diseases  of  society 
can  be  no  more  checked  or  healed  without  publicly  speaking 
of  them  than  can  those  of  the  body."  To  ignore  or  deny  the 
prevalence  of  the  evil  is  sometimes  honest  ignorance,  but  is  more 
often  hypocrisy. 

A  little  scientific  discussion  on  this  subject  is  not  out  of 
place  here.  It  will  put  young  men  on  their  guard  against 
themselves,  and  cut  off  in  some  degree  the  income  of  that  class 
of  doctors  who  live  on  their  credulity. 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  trace  its  origin  it  has  always 
been  with  ns.  According  to  Ovid,  Horace  and  Aristophanes, 
it  was  a  curse  in  ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  Even  Hippocrates, 
the  father  of  medicine  380  years  before  Christ,  considered  it 
a  subject  worthy  of  his  pen.  Of  modern  writers  the  greatest 
was  Tissot,  in  ITfiO,  who  issued  a  classic  on  this  subject  whose 
object  was  to  stay,  if  possible,  the  abuses  and  vices  which  threat- 
ened the  ruin  of  tlie  French  people.  Lurid  as  the  little  book 
distributed  by  specialists  usually  is.  the  effects  of  this  vice 
depicted  by  Tissot  ])ut«  thorn  all  into  the  shade.     If  not  exactly 


QUACKS  441 

scientific,  it  at  least  exerted  a  large  moral  influence  which  was 
beneficial  in  the  then  state  of  public  and  private  morals. 

In  the  discussion  of  secret  sin  let  us  make  it  plain  that 
the  evil  effects  are  not  immediate,  as  is  often  thought  and  fre- 
quently taught  by  school  tcacliers  and  writers.  The  brain  is  not 
palsied  at  once.  Dementia,  palsy  and  sudden  death  are  not 
likely  to  occur.  The  erroneous  idea  that  it  does,  accounts  in 
a  great  measure  for  the  terror,  the  bashfulness  and  the  love 
of  solitude  exhibited  by  this  class  of  sufferers. 

It  is  enough  for  the  purpose  of  this  article  that  in  the  course 
of  physical  decay,  gray  hair,  baldness  and  enfeebled  gait,  weak- 
ness of  the  muscular  and  nervous  system,  in  fact,  a  general 
lowering  of  the  tone  of  the  bodily  health,  appear.  Life  has 
been  lived  out  with  abandon,  its  energies  have  been  overdrawn 
and  its  wheels  have  run  down  like  the  mainspring  of  a  clock 
whose  regulator  has  been  lost. 

The  sporty  and  fast  life  led  by  reckless  youth  is  making  him 
pay  the  penalty.  And  what  is  the  penalty?  Look  at  the  daily 
papers,  see  the  brazen  medical  advertisements,  "Manhood  Re- 
stored," staring  at  you  from  every  page.  These  advertisements 
are  costly.  They  run  up  into  the  thousands  of  dollars  a  month. 
One  man,  a  doctor  of  Chicago,  formerly  paid  the  daily  press 
eight  thousand  dollars  a  month  for  advertising ;  his  "Lost 
Manhood,  Varicocele  and  Hydrocele  Cured"  appeared  in  al- 
most ever}^  paper  in  this  city. 

And  the  people  who  needed  the  treatment  paid  the  bills.  So 
powerful  was  this  man's  influence  that  he  was  enabled  to 
stave  off  undesirable  legislation  at  Springfield.  In  this  he  was 
aided  by  the  newspapers,  who  did  not  wish  to  lose  this  princely 
revenue  from  quack  doctors. 

This  doctor  is  still  in  business,  but  on  a  small  scale  com- 
pared to  former  times.  Competition  and  the  advent  of  more 
mendacious  liars  have  reduced  his  income  to  more  modest 
proportions  than  it  once  was. 


U2  QUACKS 

A  Monumental  Swindle. 

MEN  who  need  treatment  or  advice  concerning  their 
health  or  any  weakness  or  private  disease  should,  before 
taking  any  treatment  whatever,  go  to  Dr.  S.  for  consulta- 
tion,  examination    and   advice;   free. 

DE.  S. — Longest  Established,  Most  Successful  and 
Eeliable  Specialist  in  Diseases  of  Men,  as  Medical 
Diplomas,  Licenses  and  Newspaper  Eecords  Show. 

Dr.  S.  first  came  to  Chicago  about  the  time  of  the  World's 
Fair.  His  home  office  was  supposed  to  be  in  Philadelphia. 
While  Philadelphia  has  the  reputation  of  being  slow,  yet  the 
methods  of  Dr.  S.  were  decidedly  swift,  so  much  so  that  he 
almost  took  the  breath  away  from  the  Chicago  specialists. 

He  was  the  first  to  charge  for  medicine  in  addition  to  his 
fees.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  a  man  having  been  under 
the  treatment  of  Dr.  S.  for  a  week  or  a  mouth  never  seeks 
the  aid  of  another  one. 

He  has  been  cured?  Not  on  your  life.  He  has  been  robbed. 
I  have  known  this  "Doctor"  to  charge  as  much  as  one  hundred 
dollars  for  two  small  bottles  of  dope.  This  is  in  addition  to 
a  fee  of  twenty-five  to  five  hundred  dollars.  He  always  oper- 
ates a  "drug  store"  in  connection  with  his  office. 

The  patient,  having  undergone  an  examination  and  having 
been  thoroughly  frightened,  is  told  what  the  fee  will  be.  Tbis 
being  paid,  he  is  given  a  prescription  and  sent  to  the  "drug 
store." 

This  is  so  written  that  no  other  drug  store  can  fill  it.  In  a 
short  time  he  is  handed  two  or  three  small  bottles,  and  on 
asking  "how  much"  is  told  a  sum  varying  from  ten  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Surprised  and  indignant,  he  hastens 
back  to  the  "Doctor"  and  complains.  He  is  told  that  the  medi- 
cines are  cheap  at  that  price ;  that  they  arc  expensive  drugs  and 
very  necessary  in  his  case. 

If  the  patient  lias  the  money  he  pays  it,  resolving  that  he 


QUACKS  443 

will  have  no  more  to  do  with  Dr.  S.  If  he  lives  in  the  country 
he  is  surprised  the  following  week  hy  getting  notice  from  the 
express  company  that  a  C.  0.  D.  package  awaits  him  at  the 
office. 

It  is  the  second  week's  supply  of  medicine.  Charges  from 
twenty-five  to  ninety-eight  dollars.  He  at  once  writes  to  the 
"Doctor"  and  says  he  doesn't  want  the  stuff. 

The  first  supply  has  done  him  no  good.  It's  too  expensive 
and  he  can't  afford  to  continue  it. 

The  "Doctor"  writes  back  and  says  that  he  must  pay  for  it. 
It  will  require  three  months  to  effect  a  cure,  and  the  whole 
treatment  has  been  prepared.  If  he  does  not  take  it  the  office 
will  be  subject  to  a  loss  of  many  hundreds  of  dollars.  They 
also  threaten  him  with  a  suit  for  the  recovery  of  the  amount. 
Blackmail  an  Adjunct. 

The  poor  victim,  almost  frightened  to  death  at  the  prospect 
of  exposure,  usually  compromises  and  pays  all  the  money  he 
can  raise,  taking  the  three  months'  "treatment"  which  he  is 
assured  has  been  specially  prepared  for  his  case. 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  Dr.  S.  to  get  several  thou- 
sand dollars  out  of  one  patient.  Men  have  been  known  to 
mortgage  their  farms  to  get  out  of  the  clutches  of  these  cormo- 
rants. They  never  let  go  until  the  last  dollar  has  been  ex- 
tracted from  the  poor  patient.  After  his  experience  with  Dr.  S. 
he  wants  no  more.  He  thinks  that  they  are  all  alike  and  care- 
fully avoids  them  in  the  future. 

Dr.  S.  himself  is  not  in  Chicago.  He  is  said  to  live  in  Phila- 
delphia. He  operates  offices  in  this  city  and  several  other 
places.  Three  men  comprise  the  office  staff — one  man  who 
"takes"  the  case,  another  a  physician,  usually  a  dummy  en- 
gaged at  a  salary  of  fifteen  to  twenty  dollars  a  week,  and  a 
druggist. 

The  main  guy  of  every  medical  quack  office  is  the  "case 
taker."  He  is  always  a  "confidence  man"  skilled  in  the  busi- 
ness.    He  plays  upon  the  fears  and  credulity  of  his  victims. 


444  (.^UAUKS 

He  pictures  the  most  dreadful  fate  awaiting  the  unfortunate 
patient.  If  a  ease  of  private  disease,  he  knows  that  the  patient 
will  rot  on  his  feet  and  become  a  charnel  house  of  infection. 

If  a  "Lost  Manhood"  ease,  he  pictures  the  horrors  of  nn- 
potency,  a  trusting  girl  deceived,  a  divorce,  together  with  the 
scandals  that  precede  and  follow. 

The  old  Keliable  B Doctors  Cure  Men— Men  only. 

NO  PAY  UNTIL  CUEED.  $5  FEE  FOR  CURE,  $5. 
NEWLY   CONTRACTED    SPECIAL  DISEASES. 
Consultation  and  Examination  Free  Whether  You  Take  Treat- 
ment or  not.     Come  to  Expert  Specialists. 

We  cure  Varicocele,  Nervous  Debility,  Urethral  Troubles,  Blood 
Poison,  Private  Diseases,  Phimosis,  Piles,  Skin  Diseases,  Rupture  and 
other  Wasting  Diseases  of  Men. 

Call  or  send  for  free  question  list.  Hours— Daily.  9  to  8  ;  Sundays, 
10  to  2.     J.  B.  McG ,  M.  D.,  Medical  Director. 

B MEDICAL  INSTITUTE. 

Chicago,  111. 


The  above  advertisement  appears  right  along  in  the  Chicago 

dailies.      If    Dr.    S is   the   "Prince   of    swindlers"   the 

B Medical  Institute"  is  a  good  second. 

It  is  owned  and  run  by  a  Bohemian,  who  changed  his  name 
from  an  almost  unpronounceable  one  to  that  of  Hansen.  He 
employs  cheap  doctors — mostly  dope  fiends — men  who  couhl 
not  get  employment  elsewhere.  His  pay  is  about  fifteen  dol- 
lars per  week.  This  man  also  runs  a  "dental"  Institute  when^ 
equally  cheap  dentists  are  employed.  Both  institutes  rob  the 
unsuspecting. 

Hansen  was  sued  by  a  former  patient  and  nearly  four  hun- 
dred dollars  recovered,  quite  recently.  The  man  was  absolutely 
free  from  any  disease,  but  was  frightened  into  paying  thai 
amount  to  get  rid  of  an  imaginary  one. 

He  is  a  common,  cheap,  medical  swindler. 


These  are  Positive  Facts. 
MEN  $10. 
CURES  YOU. 
"DON'T  PAY  MORE." 

Under  scientific  treatment  all  diseases  peculiar  to  men  are 
thoroughly    cured. 

Nervous  Debility,  Blood  Poisoning,  Lost  Vitality,  Prostatic, 
Bladder  and  Kidney  Troubles,  Varicocele,  Hydrocele,  Con- 
tracted Diseases,   Urethral  Obstruction,  Male  Weakness. 

Dr.  C 's  Medical  Offices  are  the  most  reliable  and 

permanently  established  specialists  in  Chicago.  See  them  be- 
fore commencing  treatment  elsewhere.  Advice,  consultation 
and  examination  FREE. 

Dr.  C MEDICAL  OFFICES, 

Hours:     8  a.  m.  to  8  p.  m. 
Sunday,  10  to  3  only. 

Chicago,  111. 

Swindler  a  "Dope"  Fiend. 

The  above  advertisement  is  that  of  Dr.  C .  C him- 
self is  out  of  the  game.  He  is  a  dope  fiend.  A  few  montli?; 
ago  he  narrowly  escaped  the  penitentiary  for  taking  $225  from 
a  sixteen-year-old  child.  He  was  fined  $200  in  the  Municipal 
Court,  paid  it  and  quit  the  business. 

Previously,  however,  he  had  sold  the  use  of  his  name  to 
Dick  Williams,  owner  of  several  of  the  so-called  medical  of- 
fices along  State  street.  Williams  changes  his  doctors  every 
few  days,  so  that  a  patient  hardly  ever  sees  the  same  man  twice. 
Each  man  makes  an  effort  to  "re-fee"  the  patient — that  is, 
they  try  to  extract  more  money  in  the  way  of  fees,  claiming 
that  the  other  "doctor"  did  not  grasp  the  severity  of  the  ease. 
It  is  not  unusual  for  a  patient  to  pay  half  a  dozen  fees  in  the 
same  office  before  he  drops  onto  the  fact  that  he  is  being  sys- 
tematically robbed. 

The  main  object  of  advertising  cheap  is  to  get  the  people 
into  the  office  and  started  on  the  treatment.  Money  is  de- 
manded at  every  visit  and  new  "diseases"  discovered  as  long 
as  the  credulity  of  the  patient  lasts. 


446  (QUACKS 


CONSULT  DR.  R- 


A  graduate  and  Regular  Licensed  Physician.     Dr.  R- 


is   qualified    through   twenty-one   years   of   practical    experience 
to  give  you  the  best  medical  advice  and  treatment  in 
"  All  Diseases  and  Weaknesses  Peculiar  to  Men. 

The  oldest  established  and  most  reliable  specialist,  who  sees 
and  treats  patients  personally.  Dr.  R 's  Home  Treat- 
ment Cures  Weak  Men.  If  you  have  Varicocele,  Hydrocele, 
Weakness,  Drains,  Lost  Vigor,  Losses,  Blood  Poison,  Kidney, 
Bladder  or  Any  Chronic  Nervous,  Private  or  Urinary  Disease, 
consult  the  reliable  specialist,  who  will  cure  you  quickly,  per- 
manentlv  and  cheaply. 

CONSULTATION  FREE  AND  STRICTLY  CONFIDEN- 
TIAL, as  the  doctor  never  makes  a  professional  charge  unless 
you  desire  him  to  treat  your  case  until  cured.     Remember,  you 

see   Dr.    R personally.      If   you   cannot    call,    write   a 

description  of  your  case  and  he  will  send   you  symptom  blank 
and   book,   "VITAL   FACTS    FOR    MEN,"    FREE. 

Dr.   R is   no   better   and   no   worse   than  others   who 

have  similar  advertisements.    They  all  practice  the  same  game. 

He  is  not,  however,  on  very  friendly  terms  with  other  spe- 
cialists. A  few  years  ago  when  some  adverse  legislation  was 
threatened  at  Springfield  it  was  necessary  to  raise  a  fund  to 
check  it.     R =  subscribed  one  hundred  dollars,  but  never 


:  I  CURE  IN  FIVE  DAYS  VARICOCELE 
':  AND  HYDROCELE  without  Knife  or  Pain. 
:  I  want  to  cure  every  man  suffering  with  Vari- 
:  cocele.  Stricture,  Contagious  Blood  Poison, 
:  Nervous  Debility,  Hydrocele  or  a  disease  peculiar 
:  to  men. 
* 


This  liberal  offer  is  open  to  all  who  have  spent  large  sums 
of  money  on  doctors  and  medicines  without  any  success,  and 
my  aim  is  to  prove  to  all  those  people  who  were  being  treated 

CONSULT  DR.  R 

by  a  dozen  or  more  doctors,  also  without  any  success,  that  1 
possess  the  only  method,  by  means  of  which  I  will  cure  you 
permanently. 

DON'T  PAY  FOR  UNSUCCESSFUL  TREATMENT,  ONLY 
FOR  PERMANENT  CURE. 

I  will  positively  cure  diseases  of  the  stomach,  lungs,  liver 
and  kidneys,  even  though  very  chronic. 


QUACKS  447 

PRIVATE  DISEASES  OF  MEN  cured  quickly,  perman- 
ently and  with  absolute  secrecy.  Nervous  Debility,  Weakness. 
Lost  Vigor.   Strains.   Losses.   Urinary   Losses. 

DISEASES  PECULIAR  TO  WOMEN— Pains  in  the  Back. 
White    Discharge   and   other   ailments   cured   permanently. 

BLOOD  POISON— And  all  kinds  of  skin  diseases,  like  Pim- 
ples,   Swollen    Glands.    Wasting    Diseases,    Lingering   Diseases. 
CONSULTATION  AND   EXAMINATION  FREE. 
CURE  ONCE  FOR  ALL. 

DR.  L.  E.  Z ,  Chicago. 

Office  Hours :  8  a.  m.  to  8  p.  m. 
Sundays :   9  a .   m.    to  4  p.   m. 

"I  cure  in  five  days."   So  says  Dr.  Z and  several  others 

in  the  same  business.  However,  when  you  offer  to  take  the 
five-day  cure  you  are  told  it  is  an  operation.  "I  have  a  slow 
cure,"  say  the  oily  "doctors/'  "Just  as  good,  which  requires 
three  months."  As  the  one  operation  itself  is  a  little  alarming, 
most  men  take  the  "slow  cure." 

At  the  end  of  three  or  six  months  they  find  they  have  been 
victimized.     They  are  no  better,  and  often  worse. 

Just  Plain  Fraud. 

Among  other  advertisers  are  Dr.  L.  E.  W ,  Dr.  H.  J. 

T — and  Dr.  D .  The  last  named  was  recently  arrested 

and  held  to  the  grand  jury  on  the  charge  of  defrauding  a 
patient.  It  might  be  asked  in  the  light  of  the  above  exposes 
of  so-called  specialists,  are  there  no  honest  ones?  Detective 
Wooldridge  says  yes,  there  are  several  in  Chicago  who  deliver 
the  goods.  To  any  earnest  seekers  after  the  truth  he  will  be 
glad  to  give  the  names  of  several  men  of  whom  he  can  say, 
"They  do  not  misrepresent." 


FABULOUS  LOSSES  IN   BIG 
TURF  FRAUDS. 


"INVESTMENT"     COMPANIES      OF      LAST     FEW 
YEARS  NETTED  $10,162,000. 

This  is  a  sad,  sad  story,  because  it  is  an  obituary,  the  death 
notice  of  one  of  the  meanest  and  most  abominable  frauds  that 
has  ever  taken  the  hoarded  pennies  of  children  and  working 
girls,  the  "late  lamented"  "turf  syndicate." 

Several  years  ago  the  turf  syndicate  was  in  its  glory.  A 
poor  girl,  fresh  from  the  old  country,  would  scrub  floors  for 


a  week  or  take  in  washing  for  a  month  in  order  to  pour  money 
into  the  pockets  of  these  swindlers.  Thanks  to  the  efforts  of 
Detective  Clifton  E.  Wooldridge,  of  Chicago,  and  others,  this 
particular  fraud  is  now  a  thing  of  the  past. 

But  the  enormity  of  this  tremendous  crime  against  the  poor 
may  be  appreciated  from  a  study  of  the  following  figures. 

Turf  "investment"  companies  that  have  failed,  absconded 
or  have  been  driven  to  the  wall  by  prosecutions  during  the  last 
few  years  and  the  amount  of  money  estimated  to  have  been 
lost  in  the  swindles  give  the  following  astonishing  record: 


FAIU  Lol  S   LOSSES  IN  TURF  FRAUDS  449 

E.  J.  Arnold  &  Co $  4,000,000 

John  J,  Ryan  &  Co.,  St.  Louis,  Mo 1,500,000 

Brolaski  &  Co.,  Chicago 200,000 

Benedict:   &    Co.,    Chicago 200,000 

The  Mid-Continent  Investment  Company,  Chicago . .  150,000 

The   Mason-Teller   Company,    Chicago 50,000 

The  Douglas-Ualv  Company,  R.  S.  Daly  and  N.  C. 

Clark,    Chicago    125,000 

The   Armstrong-Baldwin    Turf    Commission,    J.    P. 

McCann  and  O.  L.  Wells,  Chicago 100,000 

The  Money-Maker,  C.  A.  Pollock,  manager,  Chicago.  15,000 
Gulf  Pacitic  Trust  Co.,  F,  Lehman  and  R.  G.  Hern- 
don,  Chicago,  New  Orleans  and  San  Francisco.  50,000 
Investors'  Profit-Sharing  and  Protective  Association, 

Chicago    12,000 

J.  J.    Shea   &  Company, .  Chicago 10.000 

Standard    Investment     Bureau,     Chicago     and     San 

Francisco     25.000 

The     Security     Savings     Society.     W.    R.     Bennett. 

Chicago 1,500,000 

The    Investors'    Protective     Association,     Frank     E. 

Stone,    Chicago    200,000 

D.  W.  Moodey  &  Co.,  Chicago 50,000 

Co-Operative  Trust  Co..  L.  M.  Morrison.  Chicago .  .  150,000 

Edward   L.  Farley  &  Co.,   Chicago 75,000 

Inter-Ocean  Commission  Co..  J.  T.  Mitchell.  Chicago  75,000 

Hugo   Morris   &   Co..   Chicago 50,000 

A!    Fetzer   &   Co.,   Co-Operative   Turf   Pools.    Ham- 
mond,  Ind 500,000 

Co-Operative   Investment  Association,   L.   H.   Myers, 

New    York    150,000 

American   Stock  Co.,  W.  M.  Nicliols.   New  York...  100,000 

Mutual   Security   Co.,    C.  Dudrey.    New   York 100,000 

Henshall,   Bronner  &  Co..   New   York 75,000 

W.   W.  O'Hara   &  Co..   Cincinnati .  .  - 50,000 

Crawford  &  Co.,  New  York 35,000 

Paul    Prv's    Investments    70,000 

The  Belt  Company.   N.  S.   (ioodsill.  Hammond.   Ind.  150,000 

Drake,   Allison  &  Co.,  Hammond,   Ind 175,000 

McClellan  &  Co.,  John  McClellan  and  John  Murphy, 

proprietors.    New    Orleans,    absconded .50,000 

New  York   Co-Operative  Company,   New   Y'ork 20,000 

W.  J.   Keating   Company.    New   York 20,000 

The  Fidelity  Trust,  Wm.   J.  Young,   San   Francisco  25,000 

C.  E.  Cooper  &  Co..    Cincinnati    15,000 

C.  E.  Cooper  &  Co.,    Covington,    Ky 10,000 

C.   E.   Collins  &  Co.,   George  D.  Jones  and   Charles 

Thompson,  New  York    .  .  .  ; 30,000 

Total $10,162,000 

Gigantic  Turf  Swindle. 

Among  the  first   of  the  get-rich-quick  schemes   into  which 

the  public  poured  millions  was  the  "turf  investment"  concern. 

The  "literature"   of  probably  no   other  class   of  swindle  was 

so  plausible  as  this.     The  promise  was  to  pay  5  and  in  some 


450         FABULOUS  LOSSES  IN  TUEF  FKAUDS 

cases  10  per  cent  on  the  investment  each  week.  The  method 
hy  which  the  promise  was  to  be  fulfilled  was  this :  The  money 
invested  was  to  be  placed  in  a  pool  and  used  as  capital  in 
playing  the  races.  A  standard  bet  of  a  certain  amount  was  to 
be  made.  If  this  wager  was  lost,  enough  money  out  of  the 
pool  was  to  be  bet  on  the  horse  picked  by  the  managers  of  the 
concern  in  the  next  race,  to  recoup  the  loss  on  the  first  race, 
win  the  amount  set  out  to  win  on  the  first  race,  together  with 
a  like  amount  on  the  second  race.  If  this  wager  was  lost,  the 
process  was  to  be  repeated  on  the  next  race,  and  so  on  until  a 
wager  was  won.  Each  time  there  was  a  winning,  a  large 
enough  sum  would  have  been  bet  to  recoup  all  losses  on  previous 
races  and  win  a  fixed  amount  on  each  of  the  races  played. 
Some  concerns  claimed  to  play  the  favorite  horses  in  the  bet- 
ting, others  the  second  choices  to  win  and  others  to  bet  accord- 
ing to  "inside  information"  derived  from  horse  owners  and 
jockeys. 

Eegardless  of  the  variations  of  the  scheme,  the  general  plan 
was  the  same.  The  prospectuses,  in  a  most  plausible  way,  set 
forth  the  claim  that  "T3eating  the  races"  was  merely  a  matter 
of  having  a  large  enough  capital  at  hand  to  continue  the  pro- 
gressive betting  plan. 

By  the  claim  that  horse  racing  was  as  legitimate  a  calling 
as  dealing  on  the  Board  of  Trade  or  Stock  Exchange  and  pos- 
sessed the  additional  advantage  of  being  open  to  persons  of 
small  means,  a  strong  appeal  was  made  to  the  poor. 

Of  course,  none  of  the  money  that  poured  in  ever  was  bet. 
Had  5  per  cent  a  week  on  all  the  millions  contributed  by  the 
public  to  this  form  of  swindle  been  actually  derived  from  the 
bookmakers,  every  pcnciler  in  the  country  would  have  been 
bankrupted  in  a  month.  The  remarkable  feature  of  the  "turf" 
investment  scheme  is  that  this  phase  of  the  matter  seem.cd 
never  to  occur  to  investors,  and  the  other  palpably  impossible 
j  phases  of  the  operators'  claims  were  also  overlooked  in  the 
effort  to  secure  2fiO  per  cent  a  year  on  the  investment  made. 


FABULOUS  L0S-5ES  IN  TURF  FRAUDS         461 

Get-Rich-Quick  Schemes. 

As  in  the  horse  swindles,  the  older  investors  were  paid  their 
dividends  from  funds  sent  in  by  new  ones.  No  attempt  was 
made  to  win  dividends  in  the  market.  As  the  gullibility  of 
the  "suckers"  became  a  little  dulled,  innovations  to  increase 
the  plausibility  of  the  schemes  were  made  and  new  forms  of 
bait  devised. 

"Turf  swindles'-  have  flourished,  while  the  victims,  who 
number  tens  of  thousands,  dare  not  raise  their  voices  in  protest 
or  complaint,  well  knowing  that  they  would  not  only  be  the 
butt  of  ridicule  in  their  community,  but  also  that  the  world 
at  large  would  rather  rejoice  at  their  losses,  and  courts  and 
juries  would  probably  waste  little  sympathy  on  them.  Conse- 
quently the  safest  swindles  operated  today  are  those  having 
race-track  betting  for  their  basis. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1903  there  were  upwards  of  twenty-five 
of  these  schemes  in  operation  in  the  United  States.  New  York 
City  was  the  headquarters  for  about  ten,  and  the  balance  were 
located  in  St.  Louis,  Chicago,  New  Orleans,  San  Francisco, 
Cincinnati  and  Brooklyn. 

Their  prosperity  was  evidenced  by  the  ability  of  managers 
to  buy  advertising  space  in  the  leading  newspapers,  to  pay 
the  printers  for  the  most  elaborate  booklets,  circulars,  etc., 
and  Uncle  Sam  for  postage  stamps,  with  which  they  were 
extremely  liberal,  usually  sending  a  stamped  envelope,  for 
reply,  to  prospective  investors. 

Extracts  which  I  give  below  from  the  literature  of  five  of 
these  concerns  offer  a  fair  criterion  for  the  whole  mass  which 
I  have  before  me,  and  demonstrate  the  turf  swindlers'  method 
of  extracting  money  from  the  unsophisticated.  Fully  25  per 
cent  of  their  "investors"  are  women,  while  the  whole  number 
who  contribute  to  their  scheme  is  made  up  of  persons  who 
would  not  be  seen  betting  at  a  race  track  or  pool  room,  but 
who  have  consciences  that  will  permit  them  to  make  money 
"honestlv  or  otherwise." 


453  FABULOUS  LOSSES  LY  TURF  FRAUDS 


FABULOUS   Lus^JO;S  J^   TLKK   Ki:£AU.DS  458 

Here  Are  Plausible  Arguments. 

I'his  is  one  argument  oj'  a  firm  of  so-called  '"'Expert  Hanrti- 
cappers"  of  New  York  City,  wlio  bet  on  the  races: 

"There  has  never  been  a  week  since  we  started  in  business 
when  we  did  not  pay  a  dividend.  The  smallest  dividend  we 
liave  ever  paid  for  any  one  week  was  $6.50  for  every  $100 
invested.     We  average  about  $9.50  per  week  on  each  $100. 

"An  investment  with  us  is  safer  and  brings  better  returns 
than  bookmaking  or  any  other  form  of  speculation." 

Here  is  an  argument  of  a  firm  of  so-called  "Turf  Commis- 
sioners" of  San  Francisco,  which  claimed  to  be  betting  on 
the  races,  guaranteeing  4  per  cent  weekly: 

"There  is  no  kind  of  speculation  that  affords  so  great  an 
opportunity  for  making  money  rapidly  on  a  small  capital  as 
playing  the  races  on  a  business-like  and  "systematic  basis.  Our 
average  weekly  profits  usually  range  from  4  to  8  per  cent." 

Another  argument,  that  of  a  so-called  "Bookmaker"  of  St. 
Louis,  who  guarantees  5  per  cent  weekly  dividends  to  investors: 

"We  make  books  and  allow  the  betting  public  to  place  the 
money.  The  man  who  bets  has  one  horse  running  for  him — 
the  bookmaker  has  the  rest.  For  this  reason  the  odds  are  all 
in  favor  of  the  bookmaker  and  if  he  understands  his  business 
he  is  certain  to  make  money." 

Argument  of  a  firm  of  so-called  "Turf  Commissioners"  of 
Cliicago,  who  claim  to  make  books  on  the  races: 

"'Our  plan  insures  a  steady  income  on  a  small  capital,  such 
as  no  other  company  offers,  and  far  eclipses  any  mining,  oil, 
or   other   stock   investment." 

Argument  of  so-called  racing  stable  concern  of  St.  Louis, 
guaranteeing  3  per  cent  ,per  week  to  investors  of  $50  and  up- 
ward : 

"We  have  a  large  stable  of  race  horses,  which  we  run  at  all 
tracks,  winter  and  summer;  we  make  books  wherever  racing  is 
conducted,  and  the  proposition  we  manage  pays  so  well  be- 
cause we  know  how  to  run  it  to  that  end." 


454         FABULOUS  LOSSES  IN  TURF  FRAUDS 

One  of  the  variants  of  the  old  turf  scheme  is  the  venerable 
'"Two-Horse  Special/'  a  fraud  that  is  so  old  that  its  whiskers 
drag  about  its  knees.  Here  is  a  sample  of  the  two-horse  litera- 
ture: 

"MY    TWO-HORSE    SPECIAL   PLAN." 

(Send   this   slip   with   remittance.) 

No  Account  Received  of  Less  Than  $50. 

George  F.  Stone, 
Turf   Specialist, 

Brooklyn,   N.   Y. 

I   hand   you    Dollars   to  be   used   by  you 

in  speculating  for  me,  according  to  your  TWO-HORSE  WIRE 
plan  of  Turf  Speculation.  You  are  to  play  one-fifth  of  the 
amount  of  capital  on  each  special,  placing  the  money  to  win 
and  also  for  place.  You  are  to  mail  for  me  your  selections 
each  day.  mailing  the  same  NOT  LATER  than  1  P.  M.  You 
agree  to  operate  the  account.  MAKING  NO  CHARGE  until 
winnings  equal  capital  invested.  After  that  20  per  cent  of  all 
winnings  you  are  to  deduct,  and  send  me  the  balance  by  money 
order,  with  statement,  each  week.  I  can  close  my  account 
and  withdraw  any  balance  due  me  on  demand.  My  liability 
is   strictly   limited    to   above   amount. 

TiTE  Police,  Aroused  by  Turf  Swindlers,  Raid  and  Close 
Up  Their  Places. 

Detective  Wooldridge  led  the  officers  on  February  23,  1900. 
wlien  the  following  concerns  were  raided  and  closed  up: 

Co-Operative  Trust  Company,  80  and  84  Adam  street. 

Turf  Investment  Company,  84  Adams  street. 

fnter-Ocean  Commission  Company,  66  Wabash  avenue. 

Security  Savings  Company,  Madison  street  and  Fifth  avenue. 

Investors'  Protective  Association,  510  Realty  Building. 

D.  W.  Moody,  182  and  184  Dearborn  street. 

Tlie  papers,  books  and  "big-dividend"  circulars  of  these  con- 
(crns  filled  several  wagons.  The  police  estimated  that  over 
$.'500,000  had  been  lost  by  the  investors  in  these  concerns,  which, 
notwithstanding  some  of  the  high-sounding  names  adopted  by 
them,  were  all  turf  swindlers.  Raid  after  raid  has  resulted  in 
practically  ridding  Chicago  of  these  vampires,  but  they  seem 
to  thrive  wherever  they  are  permitted  to  exist. 


FABULOUS  LOSSES  IN  TURF  FRAUDS         455 

FAKE  TURFMEN  INDICTED. 

Gambling  and  Bookmaking    Charged    Against    the    "Get- 
Rich-Quick"  Syndicates,  Including  Bennett's. 

True  bills  were  voted  against  proprietors  of  "get-rich-quick" 
turf  concerns  by  the  grand  Jury.  Indictments  were  returned  in 
court,  and  capiasps  for  the  arrest  of  the  accused  persons  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff.  Those  against  whom  bills  were 
voted  are: 

Frank  E.  Stone,  alias  Eddie  Dunne,  Security  Savings  Soci- 
ety, for  bookmaking.  W.  R.  Bennett,  Security  Savings  Society, 
for  bookmaking.  W.  I.  Bennett,  Security  Savings  Society, 
for  bookmaking.  D.  W.  Moody,  Security  Savings  Society,  for 
bookmaking.  Louis  Morrison,  alias  L.  M.  Morrison,  Co-Opera- 
tive  Trust  Company,  for  bookmaking.  Edwin  E.  Farley,  for 
keeping  a  common  gaming  house  and  poolroom.  Charles  Car- 
roll, for  keeping  a  common  gaming  house  and  poolroom.  J.  W. 
Turner,  alias  J.  W.  Taylor,  for  keeping  a  common  gaming  house 
and  poolroom.  Miss  S.  Beck,  stenographer  for  W.  R.  Bennett, 
for  bookmaking. 

One  puzzling  feature  of  the  prosecution  of  the  turf  people 
is  that  although  the  bills  accuse  them  of  keeping  common 
gaming  houses  and  operating  poolrooms,  officers  and  lawyers 
interested  in  the  cases  say  the  promoters  of  the  concerns  never 
really  attempted  to  win  their  advertised  profits  by  betting  on 
the  races.  It  has  been  alleged  that  not  one  of  them  speculated 
with  deposits,  but  simply  sent  dividends  back  to  investors  out 
of  their  own  money.  It  is  now  suggested  that  the  accused 
persons  will  either  have  to  admit  they  were  gambling  or  con- 
fess that  their  alluring  statements  about  winnings  on  the 
race  tracks  were  glittering  frauds. 

The  turf  swindle  was  prosperous  until  February,  1903,  when 
the  crash  among  the  St.  Louis  contingent  precipitated  a  "run" 
on  all  of  the  concerns  then  in  operation.     As  it  was  not  the 


456         FABULOUS  LOSSES  IN  TUKF  FRAUDS 

policy  of  the  swindlers  to  pa}-,  they  either  closed  their  doors 
and  fled  or  the  police  conveniently  interfered  with  their  busi- 
ness. 

Prior  to  the  crash  at  St.  Louis  there  were  several  notable 
failures  and  disappearances.  On  July  9,  1902,  the  Al  Fetzer 
Co.,  of  Hammond,  Ind.,  "failed/'  and  about  a  week  prior  Turf 
Commissioner  ^Y.  W.  O'Hara,  of  Cincinnati,  absconded.  Both 
of  these  events  shattered  many  dreams  of  riches.  In  the  Fetzer 
case  heavy  rains  were  said  to  have  broken  the  sure-thing  com- 
bination by  which  the  company  Avas  to  win  fortunes  from 
bookmakers  on  the  race  tracks. 

The  amounts  lost  by  the  credulous  investors  in  Fetzer's 
scheme,  which,  it  was  declared,  "could  not  lose,''  reached  into 
the  hundreds  of  thousands.  The  towns  that  suffered  the  most 
were  Hammond,  Ind.,  and  Appleton,  Wis.  It  was  reported 
that  the  people  of  the  latter  town  had  suffered  to  the  extent 
of  $50,000,  and  dozens  of  small  cities  are  believed  to  have 
fared  almost  as  badly. 

The  clients  of  the  concern  in  Appleton  included  a  number  of 
well-known  business  men  and  people  of  all  classes.  They  lost 
from  $25  to  $200  each.  A  poor  widow  who  had  put  in  all 
her  savings  was  left  penniless  and  was  obliged  to  seek  aid  from 
the  city  authorities. 

Fetzer  conducted  a  large  part  of  his  business  through  the 
mails.  He  advertised  extensively  in  the  newspapers  and  found 
many  who  were  willing  to  "play  the  game."  Dividends  of  $5 
a  week  for  $100  invested  were  promised  and  were  paid  punc- 
tually up  to  about  July  1,  1902.  He  said  he  had  a  system  of 
playing  the  races  that  could  not  be  beaten,  and  the  success 
of  the  early  investors  convinced  the  doubting  ones  that  his 
system  was  all  right.  The  information  of  the  "snap"  spread 
rapidly  and  Fetzer's  business  increased  accordingly.  No  one 
thought  that  dividends  of  260  per  cent  were  improbable  when 
they  read  of  the  "long  shots"  that  won  race.«  on  the  Chicago 
tracks. 


FABULOTJS  LOfSSE.S   IN   TUKF  ivHAlDS  45 T 

Fetzer  attributed  the  downfall  of  his  business  to  the  rainy 
weather  and  said  that  he  had  been  unsuccessful  in  picking 
"mudders."  His  system  of  betting,  which  was  to  make  every- 
one rich  by  the  end  of  the  summer,  went  to  pieces  with  each 
succeeding  thunder  shower,  and  the  investors  received  the 
doleful  information  that  the  company  had  lost  its  own  capital, 
as  well  as  the  money  entrusted  to  it. 

An  investigation  into  the  affairs  of  O'Hara  at  Cincinnati 
revealed  a  state  of  affairs  almost  beyond  belief.  More  than 
4,000  letters  which  were  received  within  a  week  after  O'Hara's 
disajipearance  were  opened.  They  were  from  every  state  in  the 
country,  and  many  were  from  Canada.  Amounts  from  $5  to 
$500  in  checks  and  mail  and  express  orders  were  enclosed..  The 
total  amount  of  the  money  in  the  letters  opened  was  $5,518, 
and  Inspector  Holmes  stated  that  O'Hara  got  away  with  $7,500 
which  came  in  the  mail  the  same  week,  making  a  total  of 
over  $13,000  for  one  week's  business.  O'Hara's  books  showed 
that  from  July,  1900,  when  he  commenced  operations,  until 
he  skipped  out  in  June,  1903,  he  had  received  from  credulous 
"investors"  the  enormous  sum  of  $465,000. 

The  inevitable  crash  came  early  in  February,  1903,  and 
the  police  and  grand  juries  at  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  New  York 
and  other  cities  got  busy,  but  the  money  had  been  transferred 
to  the  pockets  of  the  swindlers,  who  had  the  choice  of  paying 
lawyers  and  possible  fines  or  traveling  in  foreign  climes  until 
the   excitement  blew   over. 

February.  1903,  Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  raided  and 
closed  the  following  named  turf  investment  companies  in 
Chicago : 

H.  B.  Blackstone,  E.  J.  Arnold,  95  Dearborn  street. 

Harry  Brolaski,  "Brolaski  &  Co.,"  356  Dearborn  street. 

Henry  Thompson,  "Brolaski  &  Co.,"  356  Dearborn  street. 

Mattie  Woodin,  "Benedict  &  Co.,"  335  Dearborn  street. 

M.  J.  Beck,  "Benedict  &  Co./*  335  Dearborn  street. 


458         FABULOUS  LOSSES  IN  TURF  FRAUDS 

W.  J.  Mason,  "Benedict  &  Co./'  225  Dearborn  street. 

"Mid-Continent/'   185  Dearborn  street. 

Prey  on  Chicago  Teachers. 

From  papers  found  in  the  Mid-Continent  offices  it  appears 
this  company  had  been  doing  a  loan  as  well  as  an  investment 
business.  A  letter  addressed  to  Chicago  school  teachers  invited 
deposits  for^  investment  on  which  2J^  per  cent  monthly  interest 
was  guaranteed. 

If  the  teachers  needed  money  it  was  offered  them  at  3  per 
cent  a  month.  The  company's  methods  and  those  of  the  banks 
were  compared  in  the  letter,  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  banks. 

Medical  students,  stenographers,  maids  in  hotels,  women  of 
various  classes,  farmers  in  many  sections  of  the  country  and 
hundreds  of  men  in  different  employments  in  the  city  were 
disclosed  as  the  dupes. 

The  following  telegram  from  St.  Louis  to  a  Chicago 
paper  briefly  outlines  the  situation  on  the  second  day  of  the 
raiding  there: 

St.  Louis.  Mo.,  Feb.  11,  1903.— Runs  were  made  on  the  E.  J. 
Arnold  Turf  Investment  Company,  the  International  Investment 
Company,  The  Christie  Investment  Company  and  .lohn  J.  Ryan 
&  Co.  yesterday  by  hundreds  of  men  and  women  who  during  the 
last  six  months  have  invested  their  savings  with  these  co-opera- 
tive bookmaking  concerns  in  the  hope  of  enormous  profits.  The 
International  and  Christie  companies  paid  all  the  stockholders 
who  appeared,   at  first.     Then   they  decamped. 

Arnold  <&  Co.,  in  accordance  with  their  announcement  which 
caused  the  panic  among  the  "turf  speculators"  yesterday,  refused 
to  pay  back  any  stock  certificates,  although  still  claiming  to  be 
perfectly  solvent,  and  determined  to  pay  the  usual  weekly  divi- 
dends until  affairs  of   the  company  are  wound  up. 

At  the  offices  of  John  J.  Ryan,  owner  of  the  Newport  (Ky.) 
Race  Track,  a  riot  was  averted  by  the  presence  of  the  police  ; 
and  the  excited  investors,  who  were  reminded  that  their  stock 
certificates  are  payable  only  on  thirty  days'  notice,  went  off  in 
a  state  of  rage  and  anxiety  at  once  amusing  and  pitiful. 

How  Arnold  Inspired  Confidence. 

Arnold  was  a  wise  one.     He  knew  how  to  work  the  game. 

First  he  sent  to  New  York  and  bought  the  famous  race  horse 

Gold  Heels.     This  horse  had  won  many  of  the  great  Eastern 

classics.     He  broke  a  tendon  and  was  useless,  but  Arnold's 


FABULOUS  LOSSES  IN  TURF  FRAUDS  459 

investors  did  not  know  that.  They  would  swear  by  Gold  Heels. 
Then  he  caused  his  "bank"  to  issue  a  letter  along  the  following 
lines : 

American  Central  Trust  Company. 

Capital— $1,000,000.  Surplus— $500,000. 

S.    Schnurmacher,    President. 
Wm.   S.   Simpson,   First   Vice-President. 
Joseph  Wachtel.    Second   Vice-President. 
Franklin   P.   Hunkins,  Third   Vice-President. 
Edward    Bauder,    Secretai'y   and   Treasurer. 
Directors. 
Shepard   Barclay,  Franklin    P.    Hunkins, 

Edward   Bauder,  John   D.   Manley, 

G.    A.    Bauder,  H.  I.  Mills, 

John  N.  Drummond,  Jr.,  John  A.  Nies, 

Henry  W.  Gehner,  H.   F.  Powitzhy, 

Morris  Glaser,  Leo  S.  Rassieur, 

Frank   Griesedieck,  B.  Schnurmacher, 

G.  A.  Gurner,  Wm.    S.    Simpson, 

Joseph   Wachtel. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  May  15,  1902. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern  : 

The  firm  of  E.  .7.  Arnold  Cz  Company,  of  this  city,  is  one  of 
our  largest  depositors,  and  we  consider  them  amply  responsible 
for  every  obligation  they  may  assume. 

American  Central  Trust  Company, 
By  Edward  Bauder, 

Sec'y  &  Treas. 


The  disaster  was  brought  about  by  the  appointment  of 
a  committee  by  the  Missouri  legislature  to  investigate  the 
^^get-rich-quiek"  sifuation.  St.  Louis  had  become  the  haven 
of  every  conceivable  class  of  swindlers,  who  swarmed  there 
in  such  numbers  that  the  legislature  deemed  it  wise  to  look 
into  the  matter.  "What  motive  inspired  it  to  take  this  action 
was  a  mystery.  Sufficient,  however,  to  observe  that  when  it 
came  to  following  out  its  own  recommendation  to  pass  laws 
that  would  drive  the  "get-rich-quick"  companies  of  all  kinds 
out  of  the  state  something. stopped  the  legislation. 

The  investigation  of  the  "get-rich-quick"  concerns  in  Mis- 
souri by  the  State  Senate  Committee  resulted  in  an  elaborate 
report,  which  was  presented  March  3,  1903.  This  report  had 
the  following  to  say  of  the  turf  investment  companies: 

"These  institutions  are  of  modern  origin.  The  pioneer  in 
this  field,  especially  in  this  state,  seems  to  have  been  E.  J. 


460         FABlLurs   LOSSES  IX  TURF  FBAUDS 

Arnold  &  Co.  Then  followed  Ryan  &  Co.,  the  International. 
The  Christian  Syndicate,  Brolaski,  Thomas  Walsh,  Maxim-Gay 
and  others. 

"These  concerns  were  presumably  prosperous  until  the  ex- 
amination which  was  begun  by  the  grand  jury,  instigated  by' 
the  circuit  attorney  of  St.  Louis,  Hon.  Joseph  \Y.  Folk,  and 
your  present  committee.  When  the  crash  came,  company  after 
company  closed  its  doors  or  refused  to  pay  back  to  depositors 
on  demand,  and  upon  examination  of  these  companies,  we 
found  them  to  1ic  mere  shells,  with  little  or  no  money  or  avail- 
able assets  on  hand,  and  the  millions  of  dollars  handled  by 
them  either  paid  out  in  dividends,  squandered  and  gambled 
away  on  race  tracks,  or  absorbed  by  the  officers  and  managers 
of  the  said  companies. 

"The  evidence  discloses  the  fact  that  E.  J.  Arnold  is  sup- 
posed to  be  in  Mexico,  the  books  of  said  company  being  in  the 
hands  of  the  grand  jury.  So  far  as  the  search  under  legal 
process  has  developed,  no  assets  of  Arnold  &  Co.,  except  a  stock 
farm  and  stock  thereon,  office  furniture  and  fixtures,  and  a 
few  hundred  dollars  in  cash,  were  found. 

"Ryan  &  Company  claim  that  they  have  on  hand  $200,00{). 
which  has  been  attached  and  garnishecd,  in  the  hands  of  the 
depositories,  and  the  same  process  has  been  used  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  real  estate  holdings  and  other  personal  property. 

"George  A.  Dice,  inspector  of  the  postoffice.  in  charge  of 
Ihe  St.  Louis  department,  testified  that  he  had  made  an  ex- 
amination of  E,  J.  Arnold  &  Co.  and  John  J.  Ryan  &  Co., 
and  that  on  their  showing  Arnold  &  Co.  had  on  hand  $1G0,000 
more  assets  than  their  liabilities;  that  two  different  examina- 
tions of  these  concerns  were  made  by  him  and  his  deputies, 
and  that  in  the  last  report  of  November  and  December,  1902, 
his  report  to  the  department  recommended  that  they  be  cited 
to  appear  before  the  department  and  answer  as  to  their  liabilily 
for  criminal  use  of  the  mails,  and  that  so  far  as  his  report 
wont  they  Avore  notified  that  there  was  a  case  pending  against 


FABULOUS  LO>58ES   1  X  TTRF  FRAUDS  461 

them;  that  the  mling-  of  the-  departinent  was  not  in  aceorcl- 
ance  with  his  recoramenclatioii ;  that  from  the  evidence  it  ap- 
pears that  the  department  at  Washington,  hv  some  process  or 
other  unknown  to  your  committee,  overruled  the  recommenda- 
tions of  the  inspector,  dismissed  the  cases  pending  against  these 
companies,  and  they  were  allowed,  to  proceed  with  their  proc- 
ess of  absorbing  the  people's  money.  Had  the  department  at 
Washington  acted  promptly  and  properly  upon  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  inspector,  millions  of  dollars  wonld  have  been 
saved  to  the  people  of  the  State  of  Missouri  and  other  states. 

'"'In  order  to  protect  the  people  who  are  attracted  by  the 
iiiiv  promises  and  the  payment  -ot  extraordinary  profits  or 
dividends,  and  to  prohibit  the  improper  and  vicious  mis- 
application and  absorption  of  the  money  of  the  people  who 
confide  in  the  representation  of  investment  companies,  your 
committee  recommends  that  a  law  be  passed  which  will  pro- 
hibit the  doing  of  business  by  said  turf  investment  companies 
or  other  like   institutions  in  this   state." 

If  one  should  moralize  on  the  turf  swindles  it  would  only  be 
to  repeat  the  old  story — avarice.  Xothing  else  explains  why 
they  are  permitted  to  flourish  and  rob,  and  then  a  newspaper 
story  and  no  more. 

Justice,  blind  and  decrepit,  is  unable  to  scale  the  insurmount- 
able barrier  of  the  swindlers'  "bank  roll."  But  there  is  still 
hope,  for  from  Washington  we  hear  from  day  to  day  that  an- 
other boodler  has  been  landed  in  the  grand  jury  net — thanks 
to  President  Eoosevelt,  who,  if  he  knew  all,  would  do  more. 

When  the  last  paragraph  was  written  the  finale  had  not  been 
reached.  But  the  strong  arm  of  the  federal  government  has 
at  last  been  felt  and  the  turf  investment  companies  are  no 
more.  It  is  impossible  for  even  the  veriest  sucker  to  be  taken 
in  by  them  any  more,  and  their  literature  would  be  barred 
from  the  mails  in  an  instant.  It  is  all  over  with  the  turf 
investment  companies.  "Requiescat  in  pace."  May  they  rest 
in  peace. 


FAKE   DRUG  VENDORS. 


A    MOST     DANGEROUS    FORM     OF    RASCALITY. 

Drugs  Worth  $30,000  Seized. 

War  on  Makers  of  Imitations  of  Medicines  Begun  by  the 

Chicago  Police  jn  Charge  of  Detective 

Clifton  R.  Wooldridge. 

In  all  the  history  of  fraud,  imposture  and  graft,  there  is  no 
story  to  parallel  that  of  the  "fake  drug  clique.-'  There  is  no 
means  of.  finding  out  how  many  thousands  of  lives  are  annu- 
ally sacrificed  in  consequence  of  its  nefarious  practices,  and 
the  strong  arm  of  the  law  while  it  can  reach  out  and  prevent 
further  crime,  can  not  call  back  to  life  those  who  have  been 
offered  up  on  the  altar  of  greed. 

Sensational  raids  made  in  the  effort  to  clear  Chicago  of  its 
numerious  "Fake"  patent  medicine  concerns,  occurred  on  the 
morning  of  Nov.  29,  1904. 

The  raids  followed  a  long  conference  between  Chief  of  Police 
Francis  O'Neill  and  Col.  James  E.  Stuart,  Chief  Inspector  of 
Chicago  Postal  Department,  and  for  the  first  time  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  city,  the  Federal  and  City  forces  worked  in  unison. 
They  decided  that  Chicago  should  be  cleared  of  "Fake"  Patent 
Medicine  Concerns  which  for  years  had  been  using  the  mails 
to  defraud  hundreds  of  thousands  of  sick  and  weak  persons. 

George  G.  Kimball,  U.  S.  Inspector  of  Mails,  and  Detective 
Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  M'ere  assigned  to  gather  the  evidence  and 
prepare  the  cases  for  prosecution.  The  work  was  no  easy 
task.  Both  officers  went  about  the  work  of  gathering  the  evi- 
dence in  a  thoroughly  systematic  manner. 


I 


FAKE  DRU(i  VENDOES  4(33 

Inspector  Kimball  discovered  the  mails  were  employed  ex- 
tensively by  the  agents  in  disposing  of  their  spurious  drugs. 
Investigation  proved  that  large  orders  were  sent  to  small  sub- 
urban towns  and  cities  weekly.  The  correspondence,  circulars 
and  goods  were  secured. 

The  breaking  up  of  the  drug  ring,  however,  was .  a  delicate 
task.  It  was  strongly  backed  financially,  and  it  was  aided  and 
abetted,  throughout  the  United  States,  by  political  rings  ga- 
lore. Chicago  was  the  headquarters,  and  it  was  natural  that  to 
the  police  department  of  this  city,  ever-famed  for  its  hatred 
of  "grafts'^  big  and  little,  should  fall  the  lot  of  exterminating 
the  traffic. 

Detective  Wooldridge  gathered  the  information  in  Chicago, 
the  names  of  the  firms,  location  and  the  men  who  owned  them. 

The  men  are  charged  with  making  and  selling  a  spurious 
preparation  of  aristol,  a  product  made  in  Germany,  and  valued 
as  a  substitute  for  iodoform.  Their  products  were  represented 
as  genuine,  were  said  to  differ  from  those  handled  by  the  whole- 
sale drug  trade,  only  in  the  fact  that  they  were  imported  from 
Canada  and  England  instead  of  from  Germany. 

Here  are  a  few  of  the  things  discovered  in  the  course  of  the 
investigation  by  Detective  C.  R.  Wooldridge.  The  statements  are 
printed  from  an  interview  with  the  great  detective. 

"As  we  have  progressed  the  work  has  broadened  and  grown 
to  proportions  never  anticipated  at  the  start.  Among  the 
goods  seized  were  found  boxes,  the  labels  of  which  bore  the 
chemical  name  and  formula  of  trional,  and  which  gave  an 
exact  description  of  the  chemical  and  physical  properties  of 
trional  and  the  medicinal  indications  of  this  drug. 

"On  examination  it  was  found  that  these  boxes  contained 
pure  acetanilid.  The  dosage  of  drugs  recommended  upon  the 
label  was  fifteen  to  twenty  grains,  and  it  was  stated  'that  night 
sweats  of  phthisis  are  promptly  arrested  by  eight  grains." 

"I  am  informed  that  it  is  within  the  professional  knowledge 
of  every  druggist  as  well  as  every  physician  that  the  substitu- 


464  FAKE  imVG  A'ENDORS 

tion,  grain  for  grain,  of  acetanilid,  for  trional,  is  a  most 
reprehensible  fraud,  which  might  cause  the  death  of  the  patient 
to  whom  the  drug  Avas  administered. 

"As  indicating  the  commercial  fraud  connected  with  this 
substitution,  it  should  be  stated  that  the  price  charged  for 
this  drug  by  the  defendants  in  this  case,  as  shown  by  the  price 
list,  was  95  cents  per  ounce,  commercial  value  of  acetanilid 
is  one  and  one  half  cents  per  ounce. 

"But  by  far  the  largest  fraud  found  was  in  the  counterfeit 
label  business.  There  were  2,400  metal  caps  for  bottles  stamped 
vvitli  the  name  of  a  Swiss  manufacturer.  There  were  also 
labels  purporting  to  be  German  or  Swiss  labels.  A  number 
of  half  filled  bottles,  waiting  for  the  adulterants,  showed  con- 
clusively the  use  to  which   these  labels  were  to  be  put. 

"We  were  fortunate  enough  to  find  certain  cards  and  bills 
in  this  i)laee  indicating  that  the  makers  of  these  metal  caps 
and  labels  had  never  been  nearer  Switzerland  or  Germany  than 
Clark  and  Harrison  streets.  Acting  upon  this  information  we 
secured  evidence  that  these  articles  were  made  in  Chicago  and 
never  imported. 

"These  entire  preparations  including  the  mixing,  boxing, 
labeling  and  placing  upon  the  market  was  done  by  these  par- 
ties here  in  Chicago,  and  the  goods,  much  of  it  undoubtedly, 
placed  in  the  hands  of  innocent  purchasers,  who  were  deceived 
by  the  external  appearance  of  genuineness,  into  purchasing  the 
adulterated  and  fraudulent  goods,  without  analysis  or  investi- 
gation of  any  kind. 

The  great  public,  the  individuals  who  use  these  drugs  when 
prescribed  by  their  physician,  arc  themselves  in  total  ignorance 
of  the  fact,  not  only  that  they  have  defrauded  and  cheated,  but 
perhaps  placed  in  jeopardy  of  their  lives. 

"There  were  found  among  these  boxes  seized,  certain  recep- 
tacles which  bore  labels  stating  that  aristol  was  contained  there- 
in. On  cxaminatioji  by  reputable  chemists  at  the  Columbus 
Laboratories,  the  powder  in  these  boxes  was  found  to  be  fullers 


FAKE  DllUG  YENDOKS  465 

earth,  colored  with  oxide  of  iron,  not  containing  a  single  trace 
uf  aristol.  The  aristol,  which  was  quoted  on  the  price  lists 
as  "equal  to  Ba3^er's"  was  sold  at  80  cents  per  ounce,  at  which 
almost  a  ton  of  fullers  earth  and  oxide  of  iron  could  be 
purchased. 

"The  evidence  was  procured  and  chemical  tests  made  which 
])roved  the  presence  of  alien  matter  in  the  prescriptions  which 
called  for  pure  drugs.  In  nearly  20  per  cent  of  the  samples 
obtained  there  was  not  even  a  trace  of  the  drug  called  for  in 
the  prescription;  Acetanilid  as  a  substitute  for  trional-aristol, 
which  is  an  antiseptic  wash  much  used  by  surgeons. 

"Prescriptions  w^ere  sent  to  139'  druggists  signed  by  Dr.  J. 
Scott  Brown,  calling  for  pure  aristol.  Dr.  J.  A.  Wesener  of  the 
Columbus  Lavatories  conducted  the  tests. 

WHAT  THE  TEST  SHOWED. 

(The   results)    Dr.    Wesener   showed   the    following: 

23  prescriptions No      trace      of     aristol 

66  prescriptions 80    per    cent    impurity 

10  prescriptions 20    per    cent    impurity 

9  prescriptions 10    per    cent    impurity 

31  prescriptions pure 

"Druggists  have  been  misled  into  purchasing  this  substitute 
for  aristol  by  unscrupulous  salesmen,  who  have  palmed  off  on 
them  a  substance  which  in  many  cases  is  nothing  more  than 
"fuller's  earth,"  said  Dr.  Wesener.  This  stuff  was  sold  to 
them   cheap. 

"The  druggist  can  have  no  excuse  for  selling  this  stuff,  which 
is  injurious,  because  it  is  an  easy  matter  for  him  to  test  it 
to  find  out  whether  it  is  aristol  or  not.  Aristol  is  soluble  iji 
either,  and  makes  a  dark  brown  solution.  Some  of  the  powder 
which  we  have  obtained  on  these  prescriptions  is  not  soluble  at 
all.  We  have  not  completed  the  chemical  analysis  of  all  the 
precipitates,  but  those  which  we  have  tried  consist  of  chalk 
mixed  with  an  iron  oxide  to  give  it  the  color,  or  some  other 
mineral   substance." 


4:66  FAKE  DEUG  VENDORS 

The  two  leading  imitations  are  as  follows:  Spurious  prep- 
aration of  aristol.  and  an  imitation  of  trietliylate  which  is  a 
substitute  for  trional. 

Aristol  sells  at  $1.85  an  ounce  and  trietliylate  retails  at  $1.50 
an  ounce.  The  cost  of  manufacturing  the  two  imitations  is 
about  2  cents  an  ounce. 

DANGER  TO  THE  PATIENT. 

^The  adulteration  of  aristol  is  liable  to  be  fraught  with 
serious  consequences  to  the  patient.  It  is  extremely  dangerous 
to  introduce  a  mineral  substance  into  an  open  wound,  and  many 
surgeons  who  have  used  this  adulterated  antiseptic,  having 
bought  it  in  good  faith  for  the  pure  drug,  have  been  at  a  loss 
to  know  why  the  wounds  have  suppurated.  It  is  possible  this 
adulterated  drug  may  have  caused  numberless  cases  of  blood 
poison  with  consequent  loss  of  life.'' 

HASTENED  McKINLEY'S  DEATH. 

It  is  even  whispered  that  one  of  the  products  sold  by  this 
gang  as  a  counterfeit  of  a  standard  article  hastened  the  death 
of  President  William  McKinley.  The  story  goes  that  Avhen 
the  physicians  sent  to  the  nearest  drug  store  for  a  certain  kind 
of  medicine  they  were  given  a  substance  which  resembled  it  in 
every  way  but  which  was  spurious.  It  is  said  the  drug  had 
exactly  the  opposite  effect  upon  the  president  from  what  the 
doctors  had  reason  to  suppose  it  would  have.  Some  there  are 
who  even  declare  that  the  application  of  the  genuine  article 
at  that  critical  time  would  have  saved  the  life  of  William 
McKinley. 

Otta  G.  Stoltz,  druggist  at  00  Rush  street,  Chicago,  111., 
assisted  by  his  porter,  manufactured  the  spurious  drugs  in  his 
basement  for  E.  A.  Kuehmsted. 

In  manufacturing  the  standard  remedy  of  aristol,  he  used 
fifty  per  cent  of  various  ingredients,  and  fifty  per  cent  of 
rosin.  It  was  called  "Thymistol,  manufactured  by  the  Mexi- 
can Chemical  Company,"  and  substituted  for  aristol.     There 


FAKE  DRUG  VENDOES  467 

was  no  such  a  company  in  Mexico.  The  goods,  boxes  and 
labels  were  made  in  Chicago,  Illinois,  and  the  stuff  was  sold 
to  the  druggists  for  one  half  the  price  of  the  genuine  aristol. 
The  gang  was  ostensibly  engaged  in  selling  to  the  retail  drug 
i  rade  infringements  of  a  large  number  of  patented  drugs,  marfu- 
faetured  in  Germany.  Their '  products  were  represented  to  be 
genuine,  differing  from  those  handled  by  the  legitimate  whole- 
sale drug  trade  only  in  the  fact  that  they  were  imported  by 
iJiem  direct  from  Canada  and  England,  thereby  evading  pay- 
ment of  royalty  to  the  American  patentees.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  peddlers  used  the  cry  of  monopoly  under  the  patents  merely 
iis  a  pretext  for  ingratiating  themselves  with  the  retail  drug- 
gists, and  then  foisted  upon  them  many  adulterated  and  spui*- 
ious  imitations  of  the  imported  preparations.  The  drugs  imi- 
tated are  standard  medical  preparations,  dispensed  on  phys- 
ician's prescription  by  every  retail  pharmacist.  These  remedies 
are  in  so  general  use  that  at  least  one-half  the  prescriptions 
Avritten  by  physicians  call  for  one  or  other  of  them. 

LETTEE  FEOM  EDWAED  A.  KUEHMSTED,  THE  PEIN- 

CIPAL  DEALEE  IN  SPUEIOUS  DEUGS ; 

IT  IS   SELF-EXPLANATOEY. 

Chicago,   111.. 
Mr.  M.  R.  Zaegel.  July  24,    1902. 

Sheboygan,    Wis. 
My   Dear   Mr.   Zaegel: 

•Although  I  have  been  selling  bogus  Pheuacetiue  and  a  lot 
of  other  bogus  goods  for  orer  three  years.  I  have  never  had 
the  pleasure  of  selling  you  any  of  them.  I  should  very  much 
like  to  do  so,  and  feel  that  I  can  give  you  satisfaction  both 
in  goods   and   prices. 

Some  time  ago  I  perfected  arrangements  to  get  my  supplies 
direct  from  Europe,  where  the  supply  is  not  so  limited  as  in 
Canada,   and   I  can   do   much  better  in   price. 

The  enclosed  list  gives  my  complete  line.  All  items  with 
prices  attached  I  have  in  stock  and  can  sppply  without  delay. 
Other   items   are   continually    arriving. 

The  prices  I  have  made  you  are,  I  think,  exceptionally  low, 
and  I  trust  they  will  induce  you  to  give  me  a  trial.  Express 
charges  I  prepay.  Trusting  T  may  be  favored  with  your  valued 
orders,  I  am,  Very  respectfully, 

Edward  A.  Kuehmsted. 
6.523   Tngleside    Ave.. 
Chicago.    111. 


468  FAKE  DItUG  VEXDOIife 

THE  STATE  LAWS  COVEEING  THE  FEAUDULENT 
ADULTEEATION  OF  DEUGS  AND  MEDI- 
CINES FOE  THE  PUEPOSE  OF  SALE, 
EEADS  AS   FOLLOWS. 

"Section  10,  Chapter  38  of  Kurd's  Eevised  Statutes  of  Illi- 
nois for  1903.  Whoever  fraudulently  adulterates,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  sale,  any  drug  or  medicine,  or  sells  or  offers  or  keeps 
for  sale  any  fraudulently  adulterated  drug  or  medicine,  know- 
ing the  same  to  be  adulterated,  shall  be  confined  in  the  County 
Jail  not  exceeding  one  year,  or  fined  not  exceeding  $1,000,  and 
such  adulterated  drugs  and  medicines  shall  be  forfeited  and 
destroyed/' 

After  the  great  mass  of  evidence  had  been  gathered  it  was 
submittec  to  the  Chief  of  Police,  Francis  O'Neill,  who  instruc- 
ted Detective  Clifton  E.  Wooldridge  to  lay  the  matter  before 
John  K.  Prindiville,  Justice  of  Peace,  and  if  he  would  issue 
warrants  to  go  ahead  and  search  the  premises  and  make  arrest. 

Desk  Sargeant  Mike  White  looked  upon  as  an  expert  by  the 
police  Department  drew  the  complaints  and  warrants  which 
Avere  duly  signed  and  a  detail  of  20  picked  men  was  assigned  to 
Detective  Wooldridge  with  instructions  to  go  ahead,  and  on 
Oct.  29,  1904,  they  were  divided  into  four  squads  and  they 
swooped  down  on  the  five  Medicine  concerns  at  one  time  with- 
out giving  them  any  warning. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  parties  arrested : 

W.  G.  Nay,  alias  S.  B.  Soper,  1452  Fulton  street;  over 
$2,000  worth  of  spurious  stuff  seized.     Nay  and  wife  arrested. 

Burtis  B.  M'Cann,  alias  George  A.  Barton,  0113  Madison 
avenue,  $2,500  Avorth  of  stuff  seized.     McCann  arrested. 

J.  J.  Dean,  6123  Ellis  avenue;  $5,000  worth  of  spurious 
medicines  seized;  Dean  and  wife  arrested. 

J.  N.  Levy,  359  Dearborn  street ;  $500  worth  seized. 

Edward  A.  Kuehmsted,  0323  luglcsido  avenue,  and  Isabella 
Kuehmsted  were  arrested  ;  over  $12,000  v^orth  of  spurious  drug!? 


FAKE  DRUG  VENDORS  469 

were  seized  by  Detective  Clifton  E.  Wooldridge,  Sergeant  Will- 
iam M.  McGrrath,  Sergeant  Thomas  Fitzpatrick,  Officers  Ter- 
ence N.  Kelly,  Mathew  J.  Reilly,  Michael  O'Neill,  Thomas 
Ready,  Michael  McGuire,  August  C.  Dolan,  Patrick  Quinn, 
Thomas  Daly,  Bernard  Conwa^'. 

V.  Goldberg,  a  partner  of  Edward  Kuehmsted,  appeared 
on  the  scene  and  tried  to  prevent  the  officers  from  taking 
the  goods.  He  was  locked  up  on  the  charge  of  disorderly 
conduct  and  on  the  following  morning  entered  a  plea  of  guilty 
before  Justice  John  R.  Caverly  and  was  fined  $1  and  cost. 
John  G.  Campbell,  alleged  attorney  for  Edward  A.  Kuehm- 
sted, appeared  upon  the  scene  and  tried  to  force  his  way  into 
the  house  while  the  drug  was  being  removed.  He  also  tried 
to  prevent  the  officers  from  taking  the  drugs  and  threatened  to 
whip  them,  pulled  his  coat  off  and  assaulted  Detective  Wool- 
dridge. He  too  was  sent  to  the  Harrison  Street  Station  and 
locked  up. 

The  prisoners  arrested  in  the  raid  were  sent  to  the  Harrison 
Street  Police  Station  together  with  eleven  wagonloads  of  drugs 
seized,  which  were  valued  at  $30,000. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  prisoners  and  the  drugs,  a  United 
States  warrant  was  served  upon  them,  charging  the  defendants 
with  using  the  mails  to  defraud,  also  a  duces  tecum  subpoena 
was  served  for  the  drugs  seized  in  the  raid  to  be  brought  into 
the  United  States  court  forthwith,  was  served  upon  Detective 
Wooldridge,  and  other  officers  by  United  States  Marshal. 

The  two  ex-convicts  were  Levy,  who  was  also  known  under 
the  aliases  of  Charles  Movers,  R.  Waldron,  and  R.  Cassat  and 
George  Edwards.  Under  the  latter  name  he  served  a  year  in 
Joliet.  Hass  was  the  other  ex-convict.  His  Sing  Sing  num- 
ber was  B  5574.  Yet  under  the  administration  of  the  law  under 
the  justice  shop  system  these  men,  who  sold  chalk  and  water 
mixed  with  idorn  oxides  for  an  antiseptic,  finally  managed 
to  get  out  of  the  clutches  of  the  law  on  a  compromise  adjudi^ 


•iiO  FAKE  DPiUG  VEXDOES 

cation,  concerning  which  the  State's  Attorney  alone  knew  the 
details. 

Then  the  insolent  vendors  of  fake  drags  thought  they  saw  a 
chance  to  get  back  at  the  officers  of  the  law.  They  found  a  nice 
little  loop-hole  in  the  fact  that  when  the  raids  were  made  a 
few  chemicals,  which  were  not  contraband  had  been  seized,  in 
the  rush  and  scurry  of  the  raid. 

Therefore  a  suit  was  brought  against  Detective  Clifton  E. 
Wooldridge,  Charles  M.  Carr,  editor  of  the  X.  A.  E.  D.  Notes, 
a  police  publication,  Henry  I).  Morton,  Chief  of  Police  Francis 
O'Xeill,  the  Farbenfabriken  Co.  and  Wooten.  The  suit  called 
for  heavy  damages.  After  going  over  the  evidence  the  court 
of  first  resort  awarded  damages  of  $1.00.  Eather  than  be  put; 
to  the  cost  of  an  appeal  this  $1.00  was  paid  by  the  defendants. 

But  the  business  of  vending  fake  drugs  in  the  city  of  Chicago 
had  been  broken  up  and  the  city  made  unsafe  for  this  most  de- 
testable class  of  swindlers,  who  prey  upon  the  sick  and  wounded 
and  endanger  human  life  by  the  sale  of  their  nostrums.  "It  was 
■worth  $1.00  to  put  the  rascally  crew  out  of  business,"  said  De- 
tective Wooldridge  afterward  in  discussing  the  matter.  "It 
is  surely  worth  a  dollar  to  a  man  to  know  that  he  has  been  in- 
strumental in  saving  thousands  of  human  lives."  And  there 
the  matter  rested. 


BUCKET-SHOP, 


Every  day  the  American  people  squander  $100,000  in  ficti- 
tious speculation  in  grain. 

There  are  1,000  bucket  shops  operating  in  the  United  States 
at  this  time,  their  geographical  distribution  marked  by  the 
boundaries  of  the  country. 

For  each  of  these  1,000  shops  an  average  of  $100  a  day  gross 
income  is  necessary  to  meet  its  expenses,  chief  of  which  are 
for  wire  and  ticker  service  and  blackboard  writers. 

Thus,  in  order  that.  1,000  of  these  shops  may  live  and  remain 
open,  they  mu^t  liave  $100  a  day  each,  which,  in  a  year  of  300 
da3'S,  means  an  income  of  $300,000,000  annually.  Many  of 
tliese  ])ucket  shops  fail  for  lack  of  money,  while  others  "fail" 
in  order  that  tliey  may  keep  the  money  of  the  investor.  While 
$100,000  a  day  as  the  losses  of  the  people  in  the  illegitimate 
speculation  in  grain  is  very  conservative,  one  must  add  an- 
other $100,000  a  day  as  tribute  which  the  gullible  pay  to  the 
fake  "get-rich-quick*'  and  kindred  sharper  concerns  of  the 
country. 

'   "Speculation"'  an  Unmeaning  Term. 

Yet  with  this  $100,000  a  day  going  into  the  hopper  of  fren- 
zied speculation  of  all  kinds,  Bradstreet's  for  the  year  1907 
showed  business  failures  from  speculation  as  one-eighth  of  1 
per  cent  of  the  total  failures  of  the  country. 

Whatever  may  be  Bradstreet's  definition  of  the  word  "specu- 
lation," as  used  in  his  lists,  the  word  to  the  average  business 
man  who  knows  whereof  he  talks  is  as  unmeaning  as  any  other 
in  the  business  dictionary.  Suppose  a  man  somewhere  in  a 
country  town  loses  money  in  any  speculative  venture  anywhere 
under  the  sun.  If  it  is  a  few  dollars  only,  he  may  not  speak  of 
it  at  all.  If  it  is  enough  to  embarrass  him,  perhaps  he  may 
have  to  speak.  Under  these  circumstances  the  best  possible 
thing  to  do  is  to  explain  that  he  lost  it  "on  the  Chicago  Board 


472  BUCKET-SHOP 

of  Trade."  If  lie  lias  no  crodit  at  stake  in  the  matter,  and  is 
sore;,  lie  may  yell  murder  over  his  losses  "on  the  board."  But 
hundreds  of  such  men  have  lost  their  money  in  bucket  shops, 
and  scores  of  them  have  lost  it  at  poker  or  some  other  gramblinp^ 
game. 

"Board  of  Trade"  Falsely  Bla^ied. 

Every  little  while  a  banker  somewhere  goes  wrong  with  funds 
that  are  intrusted  to  him,  and  in  the  telling  of  the  story  the 
"Chicago  Board  of  Trade"  is  the  secret  of  his  undoing. 

One  of  the  marked  cases  of  the  kind  was  that  of  the  x\urora 
banker  who  defalcated  with  $90,000,  "lost  on  the  Board  of 
Trade." 

But  when  the  story  was  run  down  it  was  discovered  that  his 
money  was  lost  in  a  bucket  shop  in  Hammond,  Ind.,  which  had 
been  driven  out  of  Chicago  through  the  efforts  of  the  Chicago 
Board. 

When  $100,000,  at  a  conservative  estimate,  every  day,  is  lost 
by  the  American  public  in  bucket  shops,  just  the  thing  that 
such  a  shop  is  "in  being"  should  be  of  economic  interest  and 
consideration. 

Within  the  knowledge  of  tens  of  thousands  of  citizens  some 
acquaintance  or  person  of  whom  they  have  had  personal  knowl- 
edge has  gone  'Taroke"  in  grain  speculation. 

Yet  to  find  a  man  who  has  lost  his  fortune  on  the  race  tracks 
or  in  a  gambling  den  is  not  at  all  an  easy  task. 

AVithout  a  question  the  gambling  losses  in  the  bucket  shoD 
are  more  serious  in  consequences  the  country  over  than  the 
losses  in  any  other  one  kind  of  gaming,  for  the  reason  that  the 
man  who  could  afford  to  confess  losses  at  horse  racing  or  at 
cards  may  retain  his  character  as  a  business  man  to  a  far  greater 
extent  by  having  lost  at  a  "little  flyer  in  grain," 

What  is  a  Bucket  Shop. 
I  have  frequently  been  requested  to  define  bucket  shops — a 
most  difficult  task,  owing  to  the  variety  of  disguises  which  thev 


BUOKET-SHUr  473 

assume  and  the  outward  similarity  vvhieli  tliej'  ))ear  to  legiti- 
mate Ijrokerage.  The  following  definition  covers  the  essential 
features  of  bucket  shops  from  the  standpoint  of  an  expert. 

A  bucket  shop  is  an  establishment  conducted  nominally  and 
ostensibly  for  the  transaction  of  a  grain,  cotton  or  stock  exchange 
business. 

The  proprietor,  with  or  without  the  consent  of  the  patron, 
takes  one  side  of  every  deal  that  is  made  in  his  place,  the  patron 
taking  the  other,  no  article  being  bought  or  sold  in  any  public 
market. 

Bucket  shops  counterfeit  the  speculative  trading  on  exchanges. 

Continuous  market  quotations  of  an  exchange  are  the  es- 
sence, the  very  sinew  of  the  gambling  business  carried  on  in  a 
bucket  shop,  being  used  as  dice  are  used,  to  determine  the  re- 
sult of  a  bet. 

The  market  quotations  posted  in  a  ])ucket  shop  are  exactly 
similar  to  those  posted  in  a  legitimate  broker's  office,  but  they 
are  displayed  for  a  different  purpose.  The  broker  posts  the 
quotations  for  the  purpose  of  showing  what  the  market  has  been 
on  the  exchange  as  a  matter  of  news. 

The  bucket  shop  posts  them  as  the  terms  upon  which  its  pa- 
trons may  make  bets  with  the  keeper.  A  bucket  shop  is  de- 
stroyed if  it  loses  its  supply  of  quotations. 

Margins  deposited  with  the  bucket  shop  proprietor  by  the 
patrons  are  nothing  but  the  patrons'  stakes  to  the  wager,  and 
are  appropriated  by  the  proprietor  when  the  fluctuations  of  the 
price  on  the  exchange  whose  quotations  are  the  basis  of  the  bet, 
reach  the  limit  of  the  deposit,  one  party  (the  proprietor)  to  the 
bet  acting  as  stakeholder.  The  commissions  charged  by  the 
bucket  shopkeepers  are  odds  in  its  favor,  and  necessary  in  order 
to  maintain  their  pretense  of  being  legitimate  brokers  making 
the  transaction  on  an  exchange. 

Ready  to  Make  All  Deals. 

The  bucket  shop  proprietor  is  ready  to  make  all  deals  offered 
in  any  commodity  that  fluctuates  in  price.     He  may  call  him- 


474  buckp:t-shop 

self  banker  and  broker,  or  commission  mercbant,  or  disguise  his 
business  under  the  form  of  an  incori^orated  enterprise  or  ex- 
change. But  he  is  still  a  common  gambler.  The  interest  of 
the  proprietor  of  a  bucket  shop  is  at  all  times  opposed  to  that 
of  his  patrons,  as  the  profits  of  the  shop  are  measured  by  the 
losses  of  the  patrons. 

Bucket  shops  should  not  be  confounded  with  tlie  great  pulilic 
markets  of  the  world,  where  buyer  and  seller,  producer  and  con- 
sumer, investor  and  speculator  meet  in  legitimate  trade;  for 
the  pretended  buying  of  millions  of  bushels  of  grain  in  bucket 
shops  will  not  add  a  fraction  of  a  cent  to  the  price  of  the 
product  of  the  farm,  nor  will  the  pretended  selling  of  as  much 
increase  the  supplies  of  the  consumer  or  lessen  the  cost  of  his 
loaf  a  farthing.  Nor  should  they  be  confounded  with  the  offices 
of  legitimate  brokers  which  they  endeavor  to  imitate  in  ap- 
pearance. 

Xame  Coined  in  London, 

The  term  "bucket  shop,"  as  noAv  applied  in  the  United 
States,  was  first  used  in  the  late  '70s.  It  was  coined  in  London 
fifty  years  ago,  when  it  had  absolutely  no  reference  to  any 
species  .of  speculation  or  gambling.  Beer  swillers  from  the 
East  Side  (London)  went  from  street  to  street  -with  buckets, 
draining  every  keg  they  came  across  and  picking  up  cast-off 
cigar  butts.  Arriving  at  a  den  they  gathered  for  social  amuse- 
ment around  a  table  and  passed  the  bucket  as  a  loving  cup. 
each  taking  a  "pull"  as  it  came  his  way. 

In  the  interval  were  smoking  and  rough  jokes.  The  den  came 
to  be  called  a  bucket  shop.  Later  the  term  was  applied,  botli 
in  England  and  the  United  States,  as  a  byword  of  reproach  tr 
small  places  where  grain  and  stock  deals  were  counterfeited. 

Yet  the  bucket  shop  is  a  gambling  den  par  excellence,  with 
all  the  paraphernalia  necessary  for  the  deception  of  the  unsus- 
pecting. One  may  place  a  $10  bet  in  the  bucket  shop,  pay  a 
commission  of  25  per  cent  to  the  "bucket  shopper,"  who  may 


BUCKET-SHOP  475 

so  shuffle  the  "cards"  that  the  bettor  may  have  to  lose,  even 
after  he  has  won.    As  an  example : 

Game  Neatly  Fixed. 

The  one  thing  absolutely  necessary  to  the  bucket  shop  are 
quotations,  never  from  a  legitimate  board  of  trade,  but  through 
leased  wires,  or  wire  tappings,  or  from  some  other  fake  source. 
For  the  instant  that  the  "quotations"  cannot  be  written  upon 
the  blackboards  the  betting  must  cease.  The  bet  of  the  cus- 
tomer is  that  before  a  certain  grain  drops  off  a  point  against 
him,  it  will  advance  a  point  or  more  in  his  favor,  and  the  bucket 
shopper  takes  the  bet,  holding  the  stake  himself.  Frequently 
the  bettor  may  realize  that  he  has  won  a  point,  or  two,  or  three, 
and  may  insist  upon  the  bucket  shop  selling  for  him.  Perhaps 
the  victim  lives  at  a  distance  from  the  shop  and  must  write  or 
Avire  his  'T^roker."  He  wires  for  the  "broker"  to  sell,  and 
perhaps  gets  a  message  in  reply  to  the  effect  that  the  market 
must  go  much  better  than  that ;  that  he  refuses  to  sacrifice  his 
patron's  best  interests  in  that  way,  and  will  hold  on  for  the 
certain  rise.  In  most  cases  this  patron  is  immensely  flattered, 
until  within  a  few  days  the  market  is  "off"  again,  wiping  out 
not  only  his  profits,  bui>  his  original  margins  as  well. 
How  THE  Suckers  Aee  Skinned. 

Or  if  on  a  certain  day  the  customer  takes  advantage  of  a 
rise  in  the  commodity  bet  upon,  and  insists  upon  closing  out 
the  deal,  it  is  most  frequently  settled  by  the  bucket  shop  upon 
the  lowest  figure  for  the  day.  Occasionally,  indeed,  where  a 
bucket  shop  keeper  has  allowed  one  or  more  customers  to  "win" 
a  considerable  figure  from  it  through  some  untoward  turn  in 
figures,  the  whole  shop  closes  up  and  disappears,  leaving  the 
victims  no  redress  at  law  for  the  reason  that  they  have  left  the 
money  voluntarily  in  the  hands  of  the  sharpers.  Occasionally 
the  country  branch  office  of  one  of  these  central  bucket  shops 
may  clean  out  a  town  of  its  currency  until  the  scarcity  of  money 
in  the  place  may  demoralize  the  every-day  business  of  the 
town. 


476  BUCKET-SHOP 

That  the  man  who  tries  to  beat  the  bucket  shop  has  an  im- 
possible task  in  front  of  him  in  investigating  the  $10  bet,  the 
commonest  in  the  shop.  The  man  with  the  bill  steps  up  to  the 
window  and  asks  to  buy  ten  shares  of  American  Sugar  at  $110 
a  share,  paying  25  per' cent  out  of  the  $10  as  commission. 
Then,  counting  that  the  bucket  shop  might  be  as  nearly  straight 
as  such  an  institution  can  be,  remember  that  the  decline  of 
Sugar  three-quarters  of  a  point  will  wipe  out  the  bettor's  $10, 
while  for  him  to  win  another  $10,  Sugar  will  have  to  advance 
to  $111.25.  In  short,  the  customer  is  betting  against  a  propo- 
sition which  will  lose  him  $10  if  Sugar  declines  75  cents,  while 
to  win  $10  it  must  advance  $1.25,  in  either  ease  the  bucket  shop 
holding  his  money  and  taking  25  cents  ip  tolls. 

Other  "Fakes"  "Boost"'  the  Game. 

In  the  machinations  of  the  bucket  shop  interests  and  those 
of  kindred  concerns  that  are  garnering  this  $100,000  a  day  from 
the  American  people,  the  fake  trade  journal  has  had  much  to 
do:  the  fake  mercantile  agency,  reporting  extravagantly  upon 
the  responsibility  and  wealth  of  the  schemers,  has  played  ex- 
tensively upon  the  credulity  of  men  and  women ;  fake  banks 
and  bankers  have  come  into  existence  for  the  completion  of  the 
work  of  the  others,  and  have  been  by  no  means  the  least  in  the 
category  of  rascality;  the  whole  aggregation  has  been  lending 
back  and  forth  the  "sucker  lists,"  which  is  an  interchangeable 
lists  of  names  and  addresses  of  men  and  women  who  have 
"bitten"  at  one  scheme  and  may  be  promising  of  a  rise  to  an- 
other of  different  type  under  a  new  title. 

On  file  in  the  office  of  a  Chicago  man  of  affairs  at  the  pres- 
ent moment  is  a  series  of  interesting  letters,  which  he  shows 
occasionally  to  a  friend.  These  letters  are  especially  eloquent 
of  a  spirit  of  investment  which  is  in  the  country  today  and 
whicli  prompts  the  "biting"  at  almost  any  sort  of  flaunting  an- 
nouncement of  quick  riches.  The  letters  arc  from  a  young  man 
holding  an  official  job  under  the  government  at  Washington. 


BUCKET-SHOP  477 

Big  Dividend  Promises  False. 

The  first  letter  is  apologetic  for  reminding  the  addressee 
that  he  is  an  old  friend  of  the  writer's  family;  but  it  recites 
that  the  young  man  has  about  $200  in  bank  which  he  has  saved 
from  his  salary,  and  which  he  is  disposed  to  invest  with  a 
certain  company  if  his  friend  in  Chicago  thinks  the  prospects 
are  in  line  with  good  business  and  responsibility. 

Evidently  the  Chicago  man  does  not  regard  the  concern  as 
dependable,  for  the  next  letter  expresses  thanks  for  saving  the 
writer  loss,  but  asks  a  further  question  of  a  concern  that  prom- 
ises 20  per  cent  a  month  on  cash  investments  in  grain. 

The  third  letter,  recognizing  all  that  the  old  friend  from 
Chicago  has  done,  explains  that  he  has  only  a  fair  salary  from 
which  it  is  hard  to  save  much  money,  and  this  fact  has  led  him 
to  the  necessity  of  considering  an  investment  of  his  savings 
that  promise  large  returns,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  promise 
the  maximum  of  safety.  Having  established  his  reasons  for 
such  ventures,  he  suggests  to  the  friend:  "Perhaps  you  can 
answer  all  I  want  to  know  in  a  single  reply.  'Are  any  of  these 
concerns  promising  dividends  of  50  per  cent  and  such  to  be 
depended  on'?" 

xA.nd  the  Chicago  man's  letter,  in  substance,  reads :    "No !" 
"Outsider"  Has  Xo  Chance. 

Speculation,  for  the  most  part,  as  in  the  case  of  this  young 
man,  means  for  the  average  intelligence  a  possibility  for  plac- 
ing money  in  a  side  line  where  quick  and  profitable  returns 
may  be  expected,  wholly  independent  of  the  person's  occupa- 
tion. To  the  man  who  knows  what  the  best  of  the  speculative 
market  is,  the  necessity  for  all  of  the  time  and  attention  and 
best  judgment  of  the  speculator  is  imperative.  It  is  a  business 
in  which  only  the  best  business  methods  succeed. 

On  the  boards  of  trade  the  commission  merchants  may  be 
wholly  apart  from  any  risk  in  even  the  legitimate  trading,  tak- 
ing the  commission  of  one-eighth  of  a  cent  a  bushel  in  buying 
and  selling.    On  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Chicago  the  designated 


478  BUCKET-SHOP 

leading  speculative  articles,  in  their  order,  are  wheat,  corn, 
oats,  rye,  barley,  mess  pork,  lard,  short  ribs,  live  hogs  and 
cotton.  ' 

A  year's  grain  crop  may  be  650,000,000  bushels  of  wheat, 
2,500,000,000  bushels  of  corn,  900,000,000  bushels  of  oats, 
150,000,000  bushels  of  barley,  and  30,000,000  bushels  of  rye. 

Bucket  shops  have  been  condemned  by  statutes  as  criminal 
and  pernicious  in  many  states  in  the  Union,  but  anti-bucket 
shop  laws  are  rarely  enforced  by  public  servants  whose  duty  it 
is  to  enforce  them.  Prosecutions  thus  far,  except  in  Illinois, 
have  been  left  to  private  citizens  or  associations  for  the  sup- 
pression of  gambling. 

The  "bucket  shop"  has,  within  a  few  years  past,  sprung  from 
comparative  inconsequence  into  an  institution  of  formidable 
wealth  and  threatening  proportions.  There  are  nearly  a  thou- 
sand in  the  United  States.  Every  large  city  in  the  west  has  at 
least  one.  Having  banded  together  in  a  strong  combination 
they  sneer  at  legislation.  Opulent  and  powerful  they  scoff  at 
antagonistic  public  opinion. 

On  Level  with  Lottery  and  Faro  Bank. 

The  "bucket  shop,"  like  the  lottery  and  the  faro  bank,  finds 
its  profits  in  its  customers'  losses.  If  its  patrons  "buy"  wheat 
and  wheat  goes  up,  the  "bucket  shop"  loses. 

Many  a  bucket  shop  commission  merchant  Avould  hardly 
know  wheat  from  oats,  and  none  of  their  grain  and  produce 
"exchanges"  ever  had  a  sample  bag  on  its  counters.  Their 
transactions  are  wagers  and  their  existence  is  an  incitement  to 
gambling  under  the  guise  of  commercial" transactions.  The 
pernicious  influences  of  the  gaming  house  are,  in  the  bucket 
shop,  surrounded  by  the  allurement  of  a  cloak  of  respectability 
and  the  assumption  of  business  methods. 

The  legitimate  exchange  is  a  huge  time  and  labor  saving  ma- 
(•hine.  Its  benefits  are  universal.  While  its  privileges  are  val- 
uable they  have  been  rendered  so  only  by  hard  work,  and  its 
members   are   entitled   to  the   protection   of  the   state   against 


BUCKET-SHOP  479 

thieves.  The  "bucket  shop"  is  a  thief.  The  quotations  upon 
which  the  '^loucket  shop"'  trades  are  the  product  of  the  labor 
and  iniielligenee  and  information  of  the  exchange.  The  ex- 
change gathers  its  news  at  great  cost  from  all  over  the  globe 
and  disseminates  it  for  public  advantage.  But  its  quotations 
sliould  be  its  own  property.  They  are  the  direct  product  of  its 
energy,  its  foresight  and  its  business  sagacity. 

The  "bucket  shop,"  at  no  parallel  cost,  usurps  the  functions 
of  the  exchange  and  endeavors  to  secure  for  itself  the  returns 
for  a  labor  performed  by  others.  "Were  it  to  use  honorable 
methods  Avith  its  patrons  it  would  be  a  dishonorable  institu- 
tion. Using  the  methods  it  does,  the  "bucket  shop"  is  twice 
dishonored. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  other  forms  of  gambling  or  swind- 
ling are  commonplace  and  comparatively  innocent  when  com- 
pared to  the  "Inicket  shop"  which  has  caused  more  moral 
wrecks,  more  dismantled  fortunes  and  made  more  of  the  inno- 
cent suffer  than  any  other  agency  of  diabolism.  Just  why  so 
brazen  an  iniquity  in  the  guise  of  speculation  should  be  allowed 
to  exist  it  is  difficult  to  explain. 

Opex   Gamblin^g   Under  Ban. 

Open  gambling  has  been  placed  under  the  ban  of  civic  re- 
form. While  the  policy  sh6p,  the  lottery  and  other  less  dan- 
gerous methods  of  swindling  have  been  effectively  stamped  out 
of  most  cities,  the  "bucket  shop  tiger"  continues  to  rend  the 
ambitions  of  young  and  old,  dragging  them  dovm  to  forgery, 
'embezzlement,  suicide, — or  that  which  is  quite  as  bad, — ^broken 
spirit  for  legitimate  endeavor.  Under  the  circumstances  the 
sympathy  of  the  public  should  be  with  the  movement  to  drive 
"bucket  shops"  out  of  business,  to  close  them  along  with  all 
other  gambling  institutions. 

It  is  time  that  something  was  done  to  check  the  growing  evil 
of  gambling  on  produce,  cotton  and  stock  exchange  quotations. 
A  beginning  has  been  made,  but  the  movement  has  not  gone  far 
enough.    These  excrescences  on  the  body  politic  have  multiplied 


480 


BTH'KEI^-SPfOr 


liiCKbyr-siiur  4s,i 

rapidly  and  so  dangerously  near  do  they  come  to  being  popular 
that  the  mercantile  community  owes  it  to  itself  to  apply  the 
knife  at  once. 

Moreover,  there  is  no  form  of  gambling  more  disastrous  to 
the  player  than  "bucket  shop"  gambling.  Its  semi-respecta- 
bility and  likeness  in  many  outward  features  to  regular  and 
reputable  commission  houses  makes  it  the  most  insidious  of  all 
temptations  to  the  young  speculator  and  aspirant  for  wealth. 
It  is  the  open  door  to  ruin. 

Open  Door  to  Ruin. 

Men  do  not  blush  at  being  seen  in  a  "bucket  shop"  as  they 
would  if  caught  in  a  faro  bank  or  poker  room  though  they  are 
drawn  thither  by  the  same  passion  for  gambling  that  takes 
them  to  the  regular  gambling  den.  The  "bucket  shop"  success- 
fully carries  on  a  worse  swindling  game  than  the  "blacklegs." 
The  wealth  the  chief  "l)ucket  shop"  men  of  the  country  have 
acquired  proves  this.  l\Ien  can  be  pointed  out  in  Chicago,  New 
York  and  other  cities  of  the  country  who  have  amassed  fortunes 
at  the  business  while  their  thousands  of  victims  are  impover- 
ished and  ruined. 

Persons  desiring  to  speculate  or  invest  can  avoid  "bucket 
shops"  and  "fake"  brokers  by  making  a  preliminary  and  inde- 
pendent investigation  into  the  character  of  the  broker  and  the 
merits  of  the  enterprise.  If  they  accept  the  statements  and 
references  of  ]iro7noters  of  schemes  without  making  such  in- 
vestigations they  are  iiot  entitled  to  sympathy  if  they  are  robbed. 

Legitimate  brokers  do  not  resort  to  sensational  advertising : 
they  do  not  guarantee  profits ;  nor  do  they  solicit  funds  to  in- 
vest on  their  JTidgment.  The  functions  of  a  broker  or  com- 
mission merchant  are  to  receive  and  execute  the  order  of  his 
customers.  When  he  offers  to  do  more  (except  in  the  way  of 
giving  market  news,  advice  or  conservative  opinions)  he  should 
be  avoided.  Promoters  of  pools  and  syndicates  and  dissemina- 
tors of  advance  information  should  be  carefullv  avoided. 


ON  ^^SURE  THINGS." 


HOW  TO  LEARN  THEIR  REAL  CHARACTER. 

The  cleverness  and  boldness  with  which  the  up-to-date  in- 
vestment swindler  plies  liis  craft  are  almost  incredible.  Wher- 
ever yon  find  a  fraudulent  scheme  you  will  find  both  of  these 
elements  present  in-  some  degree — but  the  comparative  propor- 
tion of  one  to  the  other  is  generally  determined  by  tlie  element 
of  time  of  operation. 

For  example,  if  the  projectors  of  a  scheme  are  old  hands  at 
the  game  and  have  established  records  of  the  wrong  sort,  then 
the  idea  of  quick  results  is  not  only  attractive,  but  often  im- 
perative. There  are  many  "old  ofPenders"  in  the  profession  of 
investment  swindling  wlio  have  been  convicted  and  have  "done 
time"'  in  jails  and  penitentiaries,  but  have  not  yet  learned  to 
prefer  straight  to  crooked  finance. 

Men  of  this  character  realize  that  a  "quick  getaway"  is  a 
cardinal  essential  of  success;  they  must  complete  the  transac- 
tion and  get  in  the  harvest  before  there  is  time  for  tbe  public 
to  wake  up  and  do  any  investigating. 

The  length  to  which  tlie  1)older  spirits  in  this  class  will  go 
almost  surpasses  credibility.  Here  is  an  example,  discovered 
by  Detective  Wooldridge  of  Chicago,  of  the  tricks  to  which 
they  Mall  resort'  in  order  to  create  the  impression  of  having 
the  backing  of  men  or  institutions  of  strength  and  character: 

Through  introduction  by  social  friends,  the  local  representa- 
tive of  an  investment  scheme  was  able  to  open  a  checking  ac- 
count with  a  banking  and  trust  company  in  a  big  city — a  com- 
pany of  such  high  standing  that  it  is  very  widely  known  out- 
side of  financial  circles  and  among  people  of  small  means.  Its 
endorsement  was  worth  "ready  money"  to  any  enterprise,  and 


HOW  TO  LEAKN  THEIK  REAL  CHARACTER    483 

the  fact  was  keenly  aiDpreeiated  by  the  "fiscal  agents"  of  the 
Brite  &  Fair  Bonanza  Company. 

After  the  opening  of  his  personal  checking  account  the  fiscal 
agent  lost  no  time  in  cultivating  the  acquaintance  of  the  trust 
officer  of  the  banking  institution,  which  did  a  very  large  busi- 
ness in  the  discharge  of  trusts.  One  day  the  depositor  came  to 
this  officer  and  explained  that  he  had  a  very  simple  little  trust 
which  he  wished  to  have  executed.  Finding  it  necessary  to 
leave  the  city  for  a  few  days,  he  wished  to  provide  for  the  de- 
livery of  a  sealed  package,  containing  "valuable  papers,"  to  a 
man  whose  name  and  personal  description  was  given.  The 
person  to  call  for  the  package  would  leave  a  certified  check, 
in  the  amount  of  $1,000,  which  was  to  be  placed  to  the  credit 
of  the  "fiscal  agent"  of  the  Brite  &  Fair  Bonanza  Company, 
whose  business  connections  were  unknown  to  the  trust  officer 
of  the  banking  and  trust  company. 

All  "Brite  &  Fair."'' 

Weeks  later  the  trust  officer  was  astonished  to  receive  from 
an  old  personal  friend,  who  was  knocking  about  in  the  west,  a 
circular  of  the  Brite  &  Fair  Bonanza  Company,  in  which  the 
big  trust  company  was  designated  as  "trustee"  for  the  "B.  &  F." 
stocks.  As  the  friend  who  forwarded  the  circular  knew  some- 
thing of  the  wildcat  nature  of  the  Brite  &  Fair  enterprise,  his 
comments  on  the  folly  of  the  bank's  accepting  such  a  "trust" 
had  an  edge  on  them. 

When  the  matter  was  investigated  it  was  found  that  the 
whole  plot  had  been  carefully  concocted  and  worked  up;  that 
the  circulars  had  been  printed  and  put  in  directed  envelopes 
ready  for  mailing  in  advance  of  the  placing  of  the  so-called 
"trust,"  and  that  when  the  trust  officer  of  the  solid  financial 
institution  had  given  his  receipt  for  the  "sealed  package  said 
to  contain  valuable  papers,"  a  telegram  had  been  sent  by  the 
*'fiscal  agent"  to  "mail  out  trustee  circulars."  The  man  in 
this   scheme,   of   course,   believed  that,   as  the  circulars  were 


484    HOW  TO  LEAHN  THEIR  KEAL  OHAKAQTER 

being  mailed  out  into  a  territory  about  a  thousand  miles  from 
the  city  in  which  the  banking  and  trust  company  was  located, 
the  trust  officer  who  had  been  imposed  upon  would  never  hear 
of  the  misuse  of  his  receipt  for  a  "dummy"  package  which 
actually  contained  certificates  of  the  mining  company's  stock. 
Wliy  did  the  men  who  worked  this  scheme  to  steal  the  moral 
support  of  the  big  trust  company  go  to  so  great  pains  to  get  it  ? 
Because  fake  investment  operators  have  found  it  profitable  to 
take  every  precaution  to  give  the  color  of  legality  to  their  acts, 
they  have  found  it  profitable  to  hire  shrewd  legal  pilots  to  tell 
them  just  how  far  they  may  go  in  a  given  direction  without 
running  upon  the  reefs  of  the  United  States  postoffice's  "fraud 
order"  or  upon  the  rocks  of  a  "conspiracy"  prosecution. 

Dodge  Uncle  Sam  and  Conspiracy  Laws. 

Take  it  in  the  incident  above  related:  Had  these  men 
been  prosecuted  for  falsely  using  the  name  of  the  trust  com- 
pany or  for  obtaining  money  by  misrepresentation  (the  claim 
that  the  trust  company  was  acting  as  trustee  for  the  Brite  & 
Fair  securities),  an  able  lawyer  could  have  made  out  of  the 
"trust"  to  transfer  a  package  of  unknown  contents  a  very 
plausible  defense.  Again,  the  mining  company  was  able  to 
make  valuable  use  of  the  trust  company's  receipt  for  the  pack- 
age by  having  fac  similes  of  the  receipt  printed  and  distributed 
among  solicitors  for  the  stock  who  were  canvassing  persons  not 
at  all  familiar  with  legal  documents — and  who,  under  the  state- 
ments and  arguments  of  the  agent,  would  see  in  the  receipt  an 
acknowledgment  that  this  great  trust  company  and  its  millions 
were  behind  the  securities  of  the  Brite  &  Fair  Company. 

This  brings  us  straight  to  the  practical  point  in  the  matter. 
Never  go  into  an  investment  until  you  first  find  out  for  your- 
self, by  direct  and  first-hand  investigation,  what  the  "refer- 
ences" named  in  the  literature  or  advertising  matter  of  the 
company  have  to  say  about  it,  and  hov>'  much  ilic  references 
them«'^'lvf'<5  nmonnt  to. 


HOW  TO  LEAEN  THEIE  REAL  CHARACTER    485 

Wildcats  Give  Good  Reference. 

Promoters  of  wildcat  investment  enterprises  have  used  hun- 
dreds of  names  as  references  which  they  had  not  the  shadow 
of  right  to  use — calculating  that  persons  credulous  enough  to 
be  interested  in  the  proposition  would  also  be  credulous  enough 
to  say,  "These  references  will  speak  well  enough  for  the  enter- 
prise, else  their  names  would  not  be  given  out  for  this  pur- 
pose," and  to  act  without  making  any  inquiries  of  them. 

Again,  some  man  of  prominence  and  great  faith  may  have 
been,  at  the  start,  a  believer  in  the  enterprise  and  willing  to 
say,  within  certain  limitations,  that  he  believed  the  venture 
could  be  made  a  success  if  conducted  according  to  certain  plans 
and  under  given  restrictions.  This  does  not  signify  that  he 
will  continue  to  retain  that  confidence  or  that  he  is  willing  to 
be  understood  as  giving  the  venture  his  unqualified  endorse- 
ment, or  to  say  to  the  public  which  respects  his  name  and  posi- 
tion: 

"Come  and  share  this  enterprise  with  me ;  put  your  money 
into  it,  for  it's  a  good  thing.'' 

Detective  Wooldridge,  who  has  examined  many  of  these  con- 
cerns, desires  to  place  special  emphasis  upon  the  crafty  use 
which  these  companies  make  of  the  names  and  services  of 
reputable  "trust"  companies.  He  uses  the  word  "services" 
because  a  trust  company  may  execute  a  "trust"  in  connection 
with  bonds,  stocks,  property  or  securities  without  really  assum- 
ing any  general  financial  or  moral  responsibility  for  those  se- 
curities or  without  becoming  a  sponsor  for  them.  In  a  word, 
the  trust  company  may  engage  to  act  as  an  escrow  agent  to  see 
that  a  certain  technical  transaction  is  completed,  and  nothing 
more.  That  means  this:  The  trust  company  consents  to  hold 
the  stakes  between  two  parties,  but  without  the  slightest  re- 
sponsibility as  to  the  value  of  those  stakes  or  what  may  be  done 
with  them  after  the  stipulations  as  to  the  conditions  precedent 
to'  deliverv  have  been  fulfilled. 


4bO    HOW  TO  LEAKNT  THEIB  EEAL  CHARACTER 

Because  a  trust  company  acts  as  the  trustee  of  a  certain  bond 
issued  there  is  no  warrant  for  a  prospective  investor  to  feel 
that  the  resources  of  the  trust  company  are  in  any  sense  behind 
these  deeds  as  a  guarantee  of  values. 

Another  word  of  caution :  Whenever  you  see  the  name  of  an 
educator,  a  pastor  or  a  popular  politician,  or  any  other  leader 
having  a  hold  on  the  sentiment  of  a  community  used  in  con- 
nection with  an  investment  offering,  look  into  it  carefully  and 
take  no  step  until  the  person  mentioned  has  been  questioned 
directly  by  you. 


HUGE  SWINDLES  BARED. 


Officers  of  Four  Underwriting  and  Guarantee  Companies 
Arrested  by  Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge. 


Charges  Are  Bogus  Underwriting  and  Fraudulent  Inspec- 
tion of  Properties. 

All  the  officers  of  the  four  biggest  underwriting  and  guar- 
antee companies  in  the   west,  with  headquarters  in   Chicago, 


were  arrested.  They  were  charged  with  having  engineered  the 
boldest  and  most  comprehensive  swindle  ever  exposed  in  this 
country. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  men  arrested  for  running 


488  HUGE  CHICAGO  SWINDLES  BAKED 

The   Central   State   Underwriting  and   Guarantee  corporation 
room  1306,  Tribune  building: 

W.  H.  Hulbert,  H.  B.  Hudson,  Francis  Owings,  M.  J. 
Roughen,  W.  H.  Todd,  were  arrested  for  running  a  confidence 
game.  W.  H.  Todd  jumped  his  bond  and  fled  to  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  where  he  was  apprehended  and  brought  back  by  Detec- 
tive Wooldridge. 

$300,000,000  Capital. 

The  book  of  the  Central  State  Underwriting  and  Guarantee 
corporation  had  promoted  300  corporations  and  companies 
which  were  capitalized  at  $300,000,000.  Stock  bonds  were 
issued  which  was  guaranteed  by  this  company.  This  company 
further  agreed  to  sell  these  bonds  and  stocks  to  raise  the  money 
to  financier  these  companies. 

The  complaint  was  made  by  the  Compensating  Pipe  Organ 
Company,  through  C.  V.  Wisner.  The  firm  is  located  at  Battle 
Creek,  ]\Iich. 

W.  H.  Todd  &  Co.  was  employed  by  the  Pipe  Organ  Com- 
pany to  make  a  bond  issue  of  $150,000.  The  brokerage  firm, 
he  said,  demanded  a  1  per  cent  deposit,  amounting  to  $1,500. 

This  was  paid,  according  to  Wisner's  complaint,  and  Todd 
&  Company  undertook  to  deposit  the  money  with  another 
underwriting  company. 

Then,  he  asserts,  the  bond  issue  was  never  made,  and  Todd 
&  Company  failed  to  repay  the  $l,50Cr 

The  firm  conducts  a  banking,  brokerage  and  underwriting 
business  at  room  803,  112  Dearborn  street. 

Did  Heavy  Business. 

Rare  oriental  rugs,  the  most  costly  tables  and  chairs,  and 
elaborate  grandfather  clocks,  together  with  an  amazing  amount 
of  polished  brass  work  and  plate  glass,  were  found  in  each  (if 
the  imposing  offices  raided  by  the  deputy  marshals. 

The  Central  States  Underwriting  &  Guarantee  Company  did 
a   business  commensurate  with  the  costly  environment.     Th(? 


HIU}E  (llICAf^O  SWINDLES   BARED  489 


AT  LAST! 


books  of  the  concern  show  that  from  February  1,  1903,  to 
August  5,  1906,  643  corporations  throughout  the  TJnited  States 
paid  money  to  the  Central  State?  concern,  and  the  aggregate 
amount  paid  was  $340,000. 


490  HUGE  CHICAGO  SWINDLES  BARED 

Advertisements  were  placed  in  all  the  leading  papers  througli- 
out  the  country,  circulars  were  distributed  broadcast  with  propo- 
sitions that  capital  could  be  obtained  for  corporations  and 
manufacturing  enterprises  by  addressing  this  company. 

The  officers  of  corporations  replying  to  these  advertisements 
would  be  asked  to  call  at  the  Chicago  offices  of  the  companies. 

The  brokers  acquainted  with  the  scheme  would  then  intro- 
duce the  corporation  officials  to  alleged  capitalists  who  repre- 
sented they  had  available  capital  to  finance  business  proposi- 
tions, and  would  buy  the  underwritten  stock,  provided  the  cor- 
poration officers  would  have  them  underwritten  by  responsible 
guarantee  companies. 

It  is  asserted  that  these  alleged  capitalists  would  then  ad- 
vise that  the  work  be  done  by  the  Central  States  Underwriting 
&  Guarantee  Company,  the  American  Corporation  &  Securi- 
ties Company,  or  the  National  Stock  &  Guarantee  Company  of 
San  Francisco. 

Scheme  of  the  Company. 

The  brokers  in  the  alleged  fraudulent  transactions  would 
represent  to  the  proposed  victim  that  they  would  get  no  re- 
turns for  their  work  unless  they  actually  sold  the  stocks,  and 
that  they  would  be  content  with  a  commission  of  from  one-half  to 
1  per  cent  on  such  stock  as  they  sold.  They  assured  the  victims 
that  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  stock  underwritten  would 
be  sold,  as  the  capitalists  to  whom  the  victims  had  been  intro- 
duced would  be  certain  to  buy  them. 

The  brokers  would  then  take  the  men  seeking  -tlie  under- 
writing to  the  offices  of  the  guarantee  companies  and  arrange 
for  guaranteeing  the  bonds  on  payment  of  a  fee  of  1  per  cent 
of  the  amount  of  underwriting. 

The  men  arrested  never  entered  into  a  proposition  on  which 
less  than  $100,000  was  involved,  and  that  they,  in  some  cases, 
obtained  $5,000,000  worth  of  stock  to  underwrite. 

Detective  Wooldridge  secured  proof  that  the  application  fee 
which  was  paid  by  the  officers  of  the  corporations  to  the  under- 


HUGE  CHICAGO  SWINDLES  BARED  4.91 

writing  companies  was  always  divided  among  those  companies 
and  the  fraudulent  brokers  who  had  sent  the  corporation's 
officers  to  the  supposed  underwriters. 

The  Guarantee  Co.  Methods. 

The  Guarantee  Company  system  is  a  new  phase  of  "promo- 
tion'^  that  has  come  to  the  surface  during  the  past  two  years, 
but  which,  through  police  and  legal  investigation,  has  about 
reached  its  limit. 

A  strictly  legitimate  guarantee  company  is  modeled  much 
after  the  Fidelity  and  Insurance  Bond  corporations.  They  issue 
secured  bonds  for  all  necessary  business  purposes,  and  are  repu- 
table and  responsible.  About  1903  a  promotion  gang  in  Chi- 
cago stole  the  name  "Guarantee,"  and  half  a  dozen  fake  guar- 
antee companies  were  started. 

In  all  the  phraseology  of  tricky  finance  there  is  no  word  so 
overworked  as  "guarantee."  And  this  means  that  experience 
has  proved  it  to  be  highly  effective  in  the  hooking  of  "suckers." 
Depend  upon  it,  that  no  word  or  phrase  achieves  marked  popu- 
larity in  the  literature  of  the  "small  investments"  appeal  which 
has  not  demonstrated  its  rare  effectiveness  as  an  agency  of  de- 
ception; the  phrase  that  does  not  draw  the  money  is  promptly 
thrown  out  by  these  shrewd  fishers  of  men,  who  check  up  their 
returns  as  accurately  and  systematically  as  the  most  legitimate 
mail  order  business. 

If  the  small  investors  of  this  country  could  reach  anything 
like  a  fair  knowledge  of  just  how  much  and  how  little  there 
is  in  each  of  these  appealing  "catch  words"  in  each  phrase, 
the  plausibility  of  which  has  been  scientifically  tested,  they 
Avould  be  well  on  the  way  toward  being  able  to  protect  them- 
selves against  the  cleverest  and  most  convincing  of  these  ap- 
peals. Perhaps  the  writer  can  do  the  public  more  service  in 
analyzing  a  few  of  these  "star  phrases"  than  by  any  amount 
of  denunciation  of  the  wildcat  schemes  and  schemers  which 
deserve  as  harsh  a  characterization  as  any  man  can  frame. 


4y>  HUUE  CHICxVGO  SWINDLES  BAKED 


RURAL  RESIDENTS  CANNOT  BE  TOO  PROMPT  IN  TYING  DOWN  THEIR  PROPERTY. 

But,  to  return  to  the  word  "guarantee,"  Avhich  has  attained 
first  rank  in  the  terminology  of  the  investment  trickster,  there  is 
scarcely  a  circular,  folder  or  advertisement,  or  any  other  piece 
of  literature  put  out  by  the  pot  hunters  of  small  savings  which 
does  not  display  the  word  "guarantee"  in  big  type,  and  with 
reiterated  emphasis.  If  this  institution  chances  to  be  of  a 
financial  character  itself,  rather  than  a  mining,  oil  or  indus- 
trial concern,  the  word  "guarantee,"  or  its  twin,  "security," 
will  be  found  incorporated  in  the  name  chosen  for  the  com- 
pany. 


HUGE  CHICAUO  SWINDLES  BAEED  493 

Get  a  list  of  100  wildcat  investment  schemes  which  are  dead 
beyond  hope  of  resurrection,  and  it  is  a  safe  prediction  that 
one-half  the  names  will  contain  the  word  "guarantee"  or  "se- 
curity." These  two  words  are  as  common  to  the  eye  in  the 
graveyard  of  fake  investment  schemes  as  is  that  of  Smith,  Jones 
or  Brown  in  any  country  cemetery ;  they  adorn  practically  every 
other  tombstone  in  the  last  resting  place  of  defunct  financial 
frauds. 

The  question  of  the  value  of  either  of  these  words  in  the  title 
of  a  corporation  or  concern  is  disposed  of  by  the  statement 
that  there  is  no  legal  restriction  in  the  choice  of  names  of 
companies;  the  organizers  are  as  free  to  name  their  flimsy 
creation  "The  Rock  of  Gi1)raltar  Guarantee  Security  Company" 
as  the  parent  is  to  saddle  a  weak,  under-sized  male  child  with 
the  name  of  Samson.  And,  as  a  rule,  there  is  as  much  license 
or  propriety  in  giving  the  name  of  the  mighty  enemy  of  the 
Philistines  to  a  stunted  boy  as  there  is  for  applying  the  name 
"guarantee"  or  "security"  to  a  company  which  is  brought  into 
being  for  the  purpose  of  going  out  after  the  savings  of  the 
"small  investor." 

Why?  Because  the  companies  which  are  really  warranted  in 
making  either  of  these  words  a  part  of  their  corporate  name 
do  not  have  to  go  into  the  highways  and  hedges  and  beat  the 
bushes  for  their  business ;  it  comes  to  them  by  force  of  their 
"financial  strength."    They  have  no  need  to  drum  it  up. 

Good  Advice  on  "Guarantee." 

However,  scores  of  oil,  mining  and  investment  companies 
which  do  not  use  either  of  these  clever  catchwords  in  their  cor- 
porate titles  cannot  be  charged  with  undervaluing  the  "pulling 
power"  of  such  phrases;  in  their  literature  this  kind  of  bait 
is  employed  with  the  greatest   skill   and  plausibility. 

One  of  the  most  common  ways  in  which  this  idea  is  dressed 
is  this:  "We  guarantee  you,  under  all  conditions  and  at  all 
times,  to  get  you,  without  cost  to  yourself,  the  highest  market 


494  HUGE  CHICAGO  SWINDLES  BAEED 

price  for  your  holdings."  This  sounds  very  assuring;  it  carries 
with  it  a  protective  and  almost  paternal  atmosphere  and  sel- 
dom fails  to  inspire  in  the  trusting  investor  the  felling  that 
there  is  a  strong  hand  always  ready  to  take  the  investment 
off  his  shoulders  the  moment  it  threatens  to  become  a  burden. 

This  particular  phrase  is  especially  fortunate  and  typical, 
by  way  of  illustration,  for  the  reason  that  it  couples  with  the 
word  "guarantee"  another  term  which  is  a  warm  favorite  with 
the  word  artists  of  the  get-rich-quick  studies.  I  allude  to  the 
phrase,  "highest  market  value.'" 

Wherever  either  of  these  clever  signals  to  credulit}-  is  dis- 
played the  possible  investor  should  invariably  remember  these 
points : 

First — A  guarantee  is  never  stronger  than  the  guarantor. 

Second — A  security  only  has  a  "market  value"  in  the 
fair  and  true  sense  of  the  term  where  a  large  demand  for 
it  meets  a  large  supply;  there,  and  there  only,  exists  an 
active  market  and  a  genuine  "market  value." 

Let  these  two  propositions  (which  any  reputable  banker  oi 
broker  will  tell  you  are  axiomatic)  be  considered  separately. 
There  is  no  virtue  in  the  M-ord  "guarantee."  If  this  simple  fact 
could  have  been  firmly  fixed  in  the  minds  of  the  small  investors 
of  this  country  they  would  have  been  saved  tlie  loss  of  millions 
of  dollars  since  our  present  period  of  wonderful  prosperity 
began.  In  these  days  of  highly  perfected  business  organization 
the  process  of  finding  out  the  responsibility  of  any  financial  or 
business  concern  has  been  reduced  to  an  exact  science  and  made 
available  to  all.  Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose,  under  these  con- 
ditions, that  any  coinpany  or  corporation  which  cannot  stand 
on  its  own  feet  can  get  any  responsible  concern  to  guarantee  it? 
bonds  or  other  so-called  securities?  Never!  Such  a  supposi- 
tion is  absurd  on  the  face  of  it,  and  an  instance  where  it  has 
been  done  is  not.  so  far  as  is  known,  to  be  found  in  actual 
practice. 

Dig  down  under  tlio  "guarantee"  of  the  company  which  asks 


HUGE  CHICAGO  SWINDLES  BARED  i95 

you  to  invest  your  savings  and  wliat  do  you  find  ?  That  if  you 
do  invest  you  and  your  fellow  victims  are  really  your  own 
guarantors;  that  the  financial  strength  of  the  concern  is  really 
the  money  which  you  and  your  associates  pour  into  it ;  that  its 
only  financial  life  blood  comes  from  the  purses  of  the  small 
investors,  and  that  when  the  stream  of  vitality  from  this  source 
begins  to  dry  up,  the  sendees  of  the  financial  undertaker  are  in 
near  and  inevitable  demand. 

Reduced  to  its  last  analysis,  the  blacktype  declaration  of  a 
"guarantee"  in  the  literature  of  the  "get-rich-quick"  concern 
simply  means  that  it  has  something  to  sell  you.  Generally,  it 
is  also  an  invitation  to  you  to  pay  in  advance  for  the  flowers  to 
adorn  your  own  financial  funeral. 

As  to  the  other  pet  phrase,  "highest  market  value,"  or  mar- 
ket value  of  any  kind,  for  that  matter,  a  very  few  words  will 
suggest  the  situation: 

Excepting  where  a  very  large  demand  meets  an  insufficient 
supply  in  a  free,  open  and  comparatively  unmanipulated  mir- 
ket,  where  sales  are  regularly  made  of  record  and  those  records 
command  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  legitimate  financial 
public,  there  is  no  "market  value"  save  that  which  is  arbi- 
trarily made  by  the  broker.  He  is  the  market;  he  makes  the 
price  by  the  simple  process  of  "thumbs  np"  or  "thumbs  down."' 

The  man  who  is  on  the  "sucker"  list  of  a  wildcat  concern 
receives  an  announcement  that  "all  indications  point  to  the 
conclusion  that  next  week  the  stock  of  the  Honor  Bright  Com- 
pany Mdll  sell  at  not  less  than  five  points  advance  of  the  present 
price.'' 

The  next  week  he  gets  notice  that  the  prediction  of  an  ad- 
vance had  proved  true.  If  he  is  unsophisticated  enough  he  re- 
ceives the  announcement  with  solemn  credulity  and  credits  the 
author  of  the  promotion  literature  with  great  acumen  and 
shrewd  prophetic  powers.  He  figures  up  the  profits  he  would 
have  made  on  the  advance  and  condemns  himself  for  not  heed- 
ing the  "confidentiar'  advice  to  "buy  quick." 


U)6 


HUGE  CHICAGO  SWINDLES  BARED 


What  He  does  not  consider  is  the  fact  that  he  is  dealing  with 
a  fictitious  market,  where  the  seller  simply  makes  up  his  mind 
how  much  he  Avill  advance  the  stock  in  question  and  then, 
when  the  time  comes,  marks  it  up  and  makes  the  announcement 
of  the  "sharp  advance."  This  trick  is  turned  not  only  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  a  larger  price  per  share,  but  mainly  to 
tickle  the  cupidity  of  hesitating  investors  and  making  sale? 
which  otherwise  could  not  have  been  made. 

In  order  to  understand  how  these  companies  operate,  the 
actual  experience  of  one  victim  will  serve  to  explain  the  whole 
system. 

A  country  manufacturer,  rated  at  $50,000,  read  an  advertise- 
ment in  a  financial  Journal  about  as  follows: 

"Capital  Supplied— We  have  the  means  of  furnishing  any 
amount  of  capital  for  any  meritorious  industrial  proposition. 
Address  Lock  Box  XX,  Chicago." 

The  manufacturer  wrote  he  wanted  to  raise  $100,000  to  in- 
crease his  business,  and  offered  to  put  in  all  his  effects,  stock 
and  good  will.  He  received  a  letter  asking  him  to  come  to 
Chicago  and  visit  the  firm,  which,  for  convenience,  shall  be  de- 
scribed as  "Cold  Cash  &  Co."  He  did  so.  Cash  received  him 
in  an  elegant  office  with  open  arms.  The  manufacturer  there 
re-stated  his  necessities.  The  affable  broker  informed  him  his 
proposition  was  a  fine  one,  and  said  he  could  have  the  desired 
$100,000  within  thirty  days. 

"What  would  be  the  broker's  fee?"  he  inquired.  Only  5  per 
cent  when  $100,000  was  in  the  hands  of  the  manufacturer. 
Certainly  an  alluring  prospect.  But  how  was  the  money  to  be 
raised?  The  manufacturer  was  to  incorporate  his  business  for 
$200,000,  and  the  broker  would  sell  half  of  its  capital  stock 

at  par. 

As  the  delighted  "sucker"  was  about  to  leave  the  broker's 
office  the  latter,  in  the  most  off-hand  manner,  said :  "Oh,  by 
the  way,  Mr.  Manufacturer,  what  arrangements  have  you  made 


HUGE  CHICAGO  SWINDLES  BARED  407 

to  guarantee  your  capital  stock?''  "Guarantee  it?  I  don't 
understand  you/'  replied  the  victim. 

"Bless  you !"'  said  the  broker,  "modern  methods  demand  that 
all  stock  bo  guaranteed — quite  the  new  order  of  things.  We 
couldn't  sell  a  share  of  stock  nowadays  unless  it  was  guar- 
anteed." 

"Explain !" 

"I  will.  You  go  to  some  guarantee  company  and  have  them 
agree  to  guarantee  the  payment  of  the  principal  of  each  share 
of  stock  sold  at  thirty  years.  Don't  you  see  that  makes  your 
stock  as  solid  as  a  government  bond? 

"The  guarantee  company  takes  a  certain  portion  of  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  stock,  invests  it  for  thirty  years.  With  interest 
and  compound  interest,  in  1935  the  stock  has  accumulated  its 
par  sum.    It  is  a  beautiful  system." 

Do  Booming  Business. 

"Very  plausible,  but  where  are  these  guarantee  companies?" 

"Why,  there  are  The  National,  The  States,  and  The  Indus- 
trial. We  hear  The  States  is  doing  a  booming  business.  Go 
and  see  them.    They  are  at  such  a  number." 

The  victim  went  to  the  richly  furnished  suite  of  offices  Decu- 
pled by  the  guarantee  company  and  met  its  dignified  "presi- 
deut,"  to  whom  he  explained  the  purpose  of  his  visit. 

"Very  good,"  said  that  official.  "We  will  accept  your  risk. 
We  will  issue  you  an  option  agreeing  within  one  year  to  issue 
you  bonds  against  your  stock  as  sold,  you  to  pay  us  an  advance 
iee  of  $1,000." 

The  "sucker"  demurred.  He  had  only  $500  spare  cash.  The 
president  suggested  that  as  the  broker  would  make  a  liberal 
commission  out  of  the  deal  he  might  put  up  the  other  $500. 
The  manufacturer  'phoned  the  broker,  who  promptly  agreed  to 
pay  one-half  of  the  fee.  The  broker  gave  the  victim  a  worth- 
less check  for  $500,  which  he  gave,  together  with  $500  of  his 
own  good  money,  into  the  hands  of  tlie  "guarantee"  company^ 


498  HUGE  CHICAGO  SWINDLES  BARED 

The  company  thereupon  issued  a  certificate,  or  option,  for  bonds 
that  were  never  called  for  because  the  broker  never  sold  any 
of  the  stock. 

The  victim  went  home  loaded  down  with  promises.  The 
broker  "strung"  him  along  for  a  month  or  two,  but  sold  no 
stock.  Finally  the  manufacturer  realized  he  was  buncoed.  The 
broker  and  the  "guarantee"  company  divided  the  $500,  and 
proceeded  to  find  other  suckers. 

March  17,  1906,  E.  C.  Talmage,  who  conducted  the  Na- 
tional Underwriting  &  Bond  Co.,  of  San  Francisco,  Cal. ;  the 
Pacific  Underwriting  &  Trust  Co.,  of  San  Francisco,  Cal. ;  the 
Imperial  Bond  &  Trust  Co.,  of  New  Jersey  City,  New  Jersey; 
the  International  Trust  Co.,  of  Philadelphia;  the  Chicago  Na- 
tional Bonding  Co.,  of  Chicago,  at  52  Dearborn  street;  E.  C. 
Talmage;  E.  S.  Barnum,  103  Randolph  street;  and  M.  J. 
Carpenter,  of  the  First  National  bank,  were  arrested. 

George  D.  Talmage,  another  member  of  the  firm  located  at 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  was  afterwards  arrested  and  brought  to 
Chicago,  charged  with  obtaining  money  under  the  confidence 
game.  The  warrants  on  which  they  were  arrested  were  taken 
out  by  E.  J.  Denison  and  Rev.  Peter  A.  Baart,  a  Methodist 
minister  of  Marshall,  Mich.,  who  were  officers  of  the  La  Vaca 
mines  and  mills,  of  Joplin,  Mo. 

Rev.  Mr.  Baart  first  went  to  E.  C.  Talmage. 
Talmage  sent  him  to  E.  S.  Barnum  to  have  the  stock  guar- 
anteed.   Barnum  charged  him  a  fee  of  $500  and  agreed  to  sell 
the  bonds,  which  he  failed  to  do.     They  just  simply  divided 
this  fee  between  them  and  made  no  effort  to  float  the  bonds. 

Among  the  persons  alleged  to  have  suffered  losses  are  the 
following : 

Victoria  A.  Toole,  396  55th  street $    500 

Dr.  C.  J.  Grey,  103  State  street 250 

Miss  Frances  Mason,  sister  of  Hon.  W.  E.  Mason  1,000 

A.  C.  Nelson,  1057  Addison  avenue 150 

J.  W.  Wilson,  Opera  House  block 100 


HUGE  CHICAGO  SWINDLES  BARED  499 

G.  G.  Eustis,  Melrose,  la 100 

Lalorena  Gold  and  Copper  Mining  Company.  .  100 

Wortham  Bros.   Company   150 

Golden  Ranch  Sugar  and  Cattle  Company 9,000 

Frank  McCuddy,  Clinton,  la ". 7,500 

Dr.  E.  Hall  and  J.  Brown 125 

E.  C.  Talmage,  S.  D.  Talmage  and  E.  S.  Barnum  were  in- 
dicted by  the  Cook  county  grand  jury. 

George  D.  Talmage  fled  to  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  where  he  con- 
flucted  a  branch  office  in  the  same  business.  He  was  arrested 
;it  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  on  request  of  the  chief  of  police  of  Chi- 
cago, for  operating  the  confidence  game.  Extradition  papers 
were  secured  and  Detective  Wooldridge  brought  him  back. 
When  his  fathers  office  was  raided,  at  52  Dearborn  street,  a 
number  of  letters  was  seized,  among  them  were  several  writ- 
ten from  George  D.  Talmage,  at  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  George  D.  Talmage's 
letter  to  his  father : 

"Saw  old  Blank  today.  He  was  easy.  Inclosed  find  his 
check  for  $1,000" ;  and,  "When  I  mentioned  bonds  to  old  Tight- 
wad he  fell  over  backwards  and  swallowed  a  set  of  false  teeth." 

One  from  a  town  in  Kansas  is  said  to  have  read  :  "Nothing 
doing  in  this  joint.  The  people  here  wouldn't  buy  gold  dollars 
for  90  cents." 

One  letter  which  reflected  particularly  upon  the  cupidity  of 
our  K.  C,  IT.  S.  A.  citizens,  runs:  "I  am  giving  it  to  these 
little  Kansas  City  suckers  strong.  I  expect  to  be  able  to  send 
you  $1,000  the  last  of  the  week." 

E.  C.  Talmage,  George  D.  Talmage  and  E.  S.  Barnum  were 
placed  on  trial  before  Judge  Brentano  for  swindling  the  Rev. 
Peter  A.  Baart,  Marshall,  Mo.,  out  of  $500. 

E.  S.  Barnum  was  discharged  and  the  Talmages  found 
guilty. 

A  new  trial  was  secured  for  George  D.  Talmage.  His  father, 
E.  C.  Talmage,  on  May  10,  1907,  was  sentenced  to  an  indefinite 
term  in  the  Joliet  penitentiary. 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL, 


The  treatment  of  the  social  evil  is  one  of  the  most  difficult 
problems  with  Avhieh  society  has  ever  been  confronted.  Until 
society  is  thoroughly  regenerated  and  the  consequent  purity, 
both  of  manhood  and  womanhood,  has  become,  a  permanent 
fact,  illicit  relationship  between  man  and  woman  will  exist. 

The  attraction  of  the  sexes  is  as  mighty  as  it  is  mysterious. 
Xo  legislation  will  weaken  its  inherent  force. 

The  man  who  can  come  forward  with  a  cure  for  this  great 
curse  is,  I  fear,  yet  to  be  born. 

In  common  with  other  vices  the  so-called  "social  evil"  is  as 
old  as  mankind,  and  it  will  probably  remain  as  long  as  vice  and 


O'^ 


THE  ."SOCIAL  EVIL  501 

sin  are  found  in  the  human  heart.  Its  complete  eradication 
will,  perhaps,  never  be  accomplished  solely  through  the  process 
of  law,  yet  it  seems  to  me  that  the  law  and  its  administrators 
should  not  lessen  their  efforts  to  destroy  this  evil. 

In  JSTorway,  and  in  Switzerland,  are  the  conditions  most 
favorable  to  virtue  and  independence,  the  absence  of  extreme 
wealth  and  poverty.  Both  countries  are  comparatively  isolated 
from  the  rest  of  the  world.  In  Switzerland,  as  well  as  Nor- 
way, there  is  an  absence  of  large  masses  pent  up  together  in 
cities,  the  population  being  distributed  in  small  numbers  about 
the  country.  Sir  John  Bowring,  sent  from  England  to  investi- 
gate Swiss  society,  found  that  "a  drunkard  is  seldom  seen,  and 
illegitimate  children  are  rare."  As  a  people  these  Swiss  are  a 
testimonial  to  the  doctrine  of  equal  distribution  of  wealth  and 
temperate  habits  as  preventive  of  immorality. 
America  Follows  Old  Lines. 

The  history  of  the  United  States  is  the  history  of  all  coun- 
tries as  regards  prostitution.  The  population  is  made  up  of  all 
nations,  civilized  and  semi-civilized.  In  the  majority  of  cases 
poverty  is  the  greatest  incentive  to  prostitution.  Permanent 
prostitution  has  a  numerical  relation  to  the  means  of  occupation. 

At  the  present  time  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  the 
lower  strata  of  men  and  women  are  deprived  of  the  results  of 
their  labor  except  in  quantities  barely  sufficient  to  retain  life 
in  their  bodies.  They  are  huddled  together  indiscriminately 
as  to  sex,  in  close,  crowded  quarters,  so  that  the  ordinary  deli- 
cacies of  life  cannot  be  practiced  even  if  there  should  be  a  desire. 

The  chiefest  and  often  the  only  form  of  pleasure  within 
their  reach  is  that  given  by  nature  for  the  purest  and  best  use 
in  life,  but  which  comes  to  be  the  veriest  debauchery.  Children 
and  youth  growing  up  among  adults,  depraved  because  no  ray 
of  light  was  shed  to  show  the  way  for  moral  and  physical  up- 
lifting, must  naturally  imbibe  the  miasma  of  social  impurity. 
From  the  very  cradle  through  life  their  influence  is  to  further 
degrade  themselves. 


oO:4  THE  SOCIAL  EVIL 

On  the  other  hand  are  the  extreme  rich,  who,  not  being  com- 
pelled to  labor  for  sustenance,  spend  their  time  and  money  in 
selfish  enjoyment.  In  contrast  with  the  extreme  poor,  they 
have  every  possibility  to  cultivate  the  good  in  themselves,  but 
will  not,  and  it  grows  pale  and  sickly  among  the  rank  weeds 
of  their  selfishness. 

Chiefly,  among  self-gratifications,  are  social  evil  habits,  es- 
pecially on  part  of  the  men  of  M'ealth.  Their  manner  of  life, 
the  food  they  eat,  creates  a  fictitious  force  which  must  expend 
itself.  They  may  have  a  chivalrous  regard  for  the  women  of 
their  class,  but  consider  all  women'  below  them  to  be  legitimate 
prey. 

Eelying  on  their  wealth  to  insinuate  themselves  into  the 
good  graces  of  young  women  by  supplying  them  with  such 
things  as  Avill  gratify  vanity,  the  offspring  of  rich  parentage 
find  fascination  in  pursuit  of  their  object.  When  she  is  at  last 
won,  and  her  virtuous  scruples  overcome,  she  is  thrown  aside 
like  the  wilted  flower  which  has  yielded  all  its  perfume.  The 
brothel  is  open  to  receive  all  such,  particularly  if  she  be  hand- 
some of  face  or  form. 

Only  Burned  Orphan  Asylum. 

Xew  York,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  any  great  city  will  furnish 
examples  by  the  thousands.  Where  one  girl  enters  this  life 
from  choice  (through  sensuality  inherited  from  the  lust  of  her 
father,  no  doubt),  ninety-nine  are  sucked  into  its  whirlpool  by 
force  of  circumstances.  The  young  woman  who  is  a  clerk  is 
paid  an  amount  which  will  barely  cover  the  cost  of  living.  She 
is  expected  to  dress  well,  and  if  she  protests  that  she  can  not, 
is  told  to  rely  on  some  "gentleman  friend"  for  other  expenses. 
Likewise  in  factories  and  shops.  Only  she  who  is  protected 
by  home  associations,  and  whose  labor  is  done  to  add  to  the 
general  home  comfort,  can  hope  to  escape,  and  then  not  always. 

The  grim,  irrefutable  facts  in  connection  with  the  thrusting 
of  the  working  girl  into  prostitution  by  the  wealthy  owners  of 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  oU3 

department  stores,  was  never  better  expressed  than  in  a  recent 
s-tory  by  0.  Henry,  in  McClure's  Magazine. 

Henry  dreamed  that  he  had  been  dead  a  long  while,  and 
that  he  had  finally  arrived  at  the  Judgment  Day.  An  Angel 
policeman  was  haling  him  before  the  Great  Court  of  Last  Eesort. 
As  he  was  forced  into  the  waiting  room  the  Angel  policeman 
asked  him  kindly  if  he  belonged  with  a  certain  crowd  which  he 
saw  near  him.  The  members  of  this  coterie  were  dressed  in 
frock  coats,  gray  trousers,  spats,  patent  leather  shoes,  and  all 
of  them  boasted  of  high  silk  hats. 

"Who  are  they?"  asked  the  trembling  Henry.  "Oh,  they 
are  the  men  who  ran  big  department  stores  and  paid  their  poor 
girls  five  dollars  a  week  in  order  that  they  themselves  might 
belong  to  clubs,  go  to  Europe  and  own  fine  residences  and  auto- 
mobiles," replied  the  angel. 

"ISTot  on  your  life,"  replied  Henry.  "I'm  only  the  feller 
that  murdered  a  blind  man  for  his  pennies  and  burned  down 
the  orphan  asylum.     I  don't  belong  with  that  bunch." 

With  the  present  system  of  government,  each  year  tends  to 

annihilate  the  middle  class,  in  which  lies  a  nation's  strength. 

"Ill  fares  the  Hand,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates,  and  men  decay." 

While  extreme  poverty  exists  on  the  one  hand,  and  extreme 
wealth  on  the  other,  it  would  be  as  plausible  to  dam  up  Niagara 
Falls  as  to  stop  prostitution  by  legislating  against  it.  The  cur- 
rent, checked  in  one  course,  is  bound  to  break  out  in  another, 
and  with  all  its  pent-up  force.  Human  life,  like  the  river,  is 
bound  to  flow  in  the  channel  of  the  least  resistance. 

Nature  planned  the  association  of  the  sexes  as  surely  and  as 
inevitably  as  an}''  other  of  her  laws.  Whenever  her  laws  are 
trespassed  upon  in  any  way  there  is  suffering.  The  wretched 
conditions  of  the  poor  and  the  perverted  natures  of  the  wealthy 
turn  sex  association  into  social  evil. 

Give  All  Honest  Chance. 

Giving  to  all  young  men  and  women  honest  means  of  livelihood 


304 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  505 

with  extra  times  and  resources  for  the  cultivation  of  their 
(alents  and  their  better  selves,  honorable  marriage  would  be 
preferred  to  prostitution  in  nearl}^  every  case. 

There  is  no  hope  for  moral  purification  among  the  wealthy 
until  such  time  as  they  will  use  their  time  and  talents  in  use- 
ful work.  An  enormous  field  for  missionary  work  would  be 
for  some  one  of  aliility  to  convert  the  wealthy  world  to  the 
religion  of  useful  work.  As  a  self-evident  truth,  no  able-bodied 
person  has  the  right  to  live  off  the  labor  of  another  person.  In- 
stead of  the  many  working  to  the  last  notch  of  human  endur- 
ance that  the  few  may  live  in  luxury  and  idleness,  there  should 
be  labor  for  all,  and  enough  for  all.  Money,  however,  is  with- 
out love,  or  patriotism,  or  kindness — is  all-powerful,  and  is 
fawned  upon,  and  catered  to  by  those  possessing  it  in  limited 
quantities. 

The  remedy  for  prostitution,  as  well  as  other  evils,  lies  in  the 
hands  of  the  American  people  themselves,  if  they  only  knew  it. 
Just  a  few  years  of  intelligent  voting  and  legislating  for  better 
conditions  for  the  many,  instead  of  for  the  few  extremely 
wealthy,  would  tend  to  overcome  all  injustice  and  inequality. 
The  social  evil  would  be  weeded  out  because  people  would  then 
have  time  to  obey  the  injunction,  "Know  Thyself." 
Average  Evil  Life  Very  Short. 

According  to  statistics  the  average  life  of  a  prostitute  is  four 
years  after  entering  the  maelstrom  of  such  a  career.  The  life 
is  never  such  as  to  be  recommended  even  by  its  followers.  It 
is  moral  as  well  as  physical  death  when  followed,  and  is  well- 
nigh  impossible  to  escape  once  having  bowed  to  its  seeming 
fascination. 

As  to  the  libertine,  he  "sells  himself  for  what  he  buys."  He 
may  enjoy  pleasure,  but  not  happiness.  Happiness  comes  from 
within,  in  the  consciousness  of  doing  right.  Pleasures  come 
from  without,  in  the  gratification  of  self.  In  addition  to  the 
hollowness  of  the  enjoyment  in  the  lives  of  prostitute  and  liber- 
tine, is  always  the  danger  of  loathsome  disease  which  tortures 


506  THE  SOCIAL  EVIL 

body  and  brain,  lowering  them  in  their  own  minds.  It  is 
about  the  only  ill  in  the  category  that  does  not  command  sym- 
pathy, but  it  should. 

The  evils  of  drunkenness,  theft,  or  prostitution  are  on  the 
same  basis  as  far  as  the  "necessity"  for  their  existence.  All  are 
more  or  less  the  result  of  a  badly  adjusted  economic  condition 
of  whatever  nation.  They  can  be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  if 
not  eradicated,  by  removing  the  cause. 

Argument  Against  Segregation. 

The  first  and  most  convincing  argument  against  the  segrega- 
tion of  vice  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  law  expressly  con- 
demns crime  of  all  kinds  and  requires  its  relentless  prosecution 
in  order  to  effect  its  destruction.  Besides,  vice  districts  would 
shortly  become  breeding  spots  for  the  propagation  of  crime 
of  every  kind.  Here  would  be  attracted  the  criminal  classes 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  because  here  they  would  be  pro- 
tected by  the  very  law  Avhich  they  violate. 

Not  only  would  the  inhabitants  of  such  districts  regard  them- 
selves within  the  law,  but  others,  who  now  fear  to  enter  these 
resorts  because  of  the  probability  of  arrest  and  public  exposure, 
would  patronize  the  district,  armed  with  the  knowledge  that 
non-arrest  was  a  certainty  and  exposure  highly  improbable. 
The  locality  and  extent  of  such  districts  would  soon  become  a 
matter  of  common  information,  and  young  men  would  thus 
find  easy  access  to  disreputable  resorts  which  otherwise  they 
might  never  find. 

Evil  Not  Necessary. 

]\Iany  advance  the  argument  that  the  evil  is  a  necessary  one 
and  must  be  tolerated,  else  the  safety  of  virtuous  women  upon 
our  streets  would  be  seriously  threatened  and  imperiled.  The 
fallacy  and  absurdity  of  this  contention  is  proved  by  the  con- 
ditions which  exist  in  many  of  the  large  cities  of  Great  Britain 
and  Canada,  where  houses  of  ill-fame  are  practically  unknown, 
and  where  women  are  as  safe  as  in  cities  where  the  segrega- 
tion of  vice  prevails.  This  result  has  been  obtained  by  per- 
sistent effort  on  the  part  of  officials  whose  duty  it  is  to  sup- 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  507 

press  and  punish  crime.  Sucli  a  condition  can  never  be  se- 
cured here  if  districts  are  established  where  this  particular 
form  of  vice  may  flourish  with  the  tacit  approval  of  our  public 
officers.  Surely  we  in  Chicago  are  not  willing  to  admit  that 
which  has  been  done  clsewlioro  cannot  be  done  here. 

Chicago  could  not  legally  license  or  regulate  this  evil,  for 
our  state  law  forbids  license.  The  moral  sentiment  of  our 
people  is  also  against  it.  Several  years  or  so  ago,  when  a  resolu- 
tion was  introduced  into  the  city  council  looking  toward  segre- 
gation, medical  examination  and  license,  a  vigorous  protest  was 
made  by  the  Chicago  Woman's  Club,  the  Evanston  Woman's 
Club,  and  other  such  organizations.  The  good  women  of  Chi- 
cago will  not  tamely  submit  to  such  additional  degradation  of 
their  wronged  sisters. 

ISToBLER  Womanhood  the  Goal. 

Chicago  women  are  working  hard  to  protect  innocent  women 
from  lives  of  infamy  and  to  help  the  repentant  to  a  nobler 
womanhood.  If  there  were  men  working  among  their  own  sex 
with  equal  devotions  there  would  be  a  lessening  of  the  social 
evil.  If  physicians  would  teach  men  the  safety  of  chastity  and 
the  horrors  of  licentiousness,  if  preachers  would  train  their  guns 
against  impurity,  if  popular  clubs  would  expel  licentious  men, 
if  the  mayor  woiild  order  the  arrest  of  every  person,  man  or 
woman,  found  in  these  houses,  apparently  so  well  known  to 
the  police,  and  have  such  arrests  continued  night  after  night, 
these  methods  would  cause  a  marked  lessening  of  the  social  evil. 

The  police  of  Chicago  have  done  much  in  recent  3'ears  to 
make  it  a  better  city.  To  them  is  due  the  credit  more  than  to 
anyone  else  for  better  conditions  in  our  moral  life.  If  they  are 
encouraged  and  allowed  to  work  out  these  problems  in  their 
own  practical  way  they  will  do  more  for  our  city's  good  than 
all  the  theoretical  reformers  combined. 

Many  conditions  ought  not  to  exist,  but  they  must  and  will 
remain  for  the  present.  Your  reformer,  so-called,  writes  and 
pleads  for  the  ideal.  The  police  force  deals  with  what  is  and 
knows  best  what  can  be  done. 


SUPPRESS  riANUFACTURE  AND  SALE  OF 
DANGEROUS  WEAPONS==THEY  ARE  A 
CONSTANT  MENACE  TO  LIFE  AND  GOOD 
ORDER.  

MADE  SOLELY  FOR  UNLAWFUL  USE  ==  ENGENDER 
CRIME,  INCREASE  ACCIDENTS  AND  MAKE  SUICIDE 
EASY-CARRYING  CONCEALED  WEAPONS  A  VICIOUS 
AND  INEXCUSABLE  HABIT. 


SALE  OF  DANGEKOUS  WEAPOiS^S  509 

The  '^lid''  should  be  put  upon  deadly  weapons — pistols,  re- 
volvers, dirk  knives,  brass  knuckles — not  merely  to  hide  thenu 
but  to  prevent  their  manufacture  and  sale. 

While  serving  as  police  officer  I  could  not  fail  to  observe 
that  substantially  all  of  the  crimes  committed  with  the  pistol 
or  revolver  resulted  from  the  practice  of  carrying  the  weapon 
upon  the  person.  There  would  be  a  controversy  in  a  bar- 
room, on  the  street  or  elsewhere,  followed  by  a  fight  and 
ending  with  a  shooting  by  someone  present  who  had  the  weapon 
conveniently  concealed  upon  his  person.  But  for  the  presence 
of  the  weapon  on  the  scene  there  would  have  been  no  shooting. 

I  recall  but  one  case  where  the  defendant  left  the  scene  of  the 
controversy  to  procure  a  weapon.  Murder  committed  by  lying 
in  wait  or  with  premeditation  for  any  length  of  time  is  ex- 
tremely rare.  In  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred  the  crime 
is  committed  on  the  spur  of  the  moment. 

Statistics  furnished  by  the  police  department  show  startling 
facts.  Citizens  do  not  realize  the  number  of  persons  who  are 
cither  v\^ounded  or  killed  every  year  by  shooting  with  the  re- 
volver. One  can  hardly  pick  up  a  metropolitan  paper  without 
findiug  an  account  of  a  shooting,  either  by  accident  or  design. 
"We  have  laws  forbidding  the  carrying  of  concealed  weapons, 
which  are  to  a  certain  extent  effective,  but  to  a  very  small  ex- 
tent, because  it  is  practically  impossible  to  search  every  man 
un  the  street  — and  keep  him  searched.  The  law,  no  matter  how 
rigidly  enforced,  can  do  but  little  substantial  good. 

AVe  must  also  consider  other  deadly  weapons,  such  as  dirk 
laiiAos  and  brass  knuckles.  So  far  as  these  are  concerned,  they 
;ire  manufactured  solely  to  be  used  as  instruments  of  crime. 
The  brass  knuckle  is  never  used  as  a  weapon  of  defense,  but 
always  as  one  of  offense.  The  dirk  knife  has  no  use  other  than 
as  a  weapon  to  be  used  against  human  beings.  It  is  not  used 
either  in  war  or  for  any  domestic  purpose. 

So  far  as  the  revolver  is  concerned,  it  has  no  proper  use  any- 
where in  the  world.    It  is  carried  either  as  a  weapon  of  offense 


510  SUPPRESS  MANUFAOTUKE  AND 

or  defense ;  but  as  a  weapon  of  defense  it  is  only  possibly  effect- 
ive when  there  is  a  revolver  in  the  hands  of  the  antagonist.  If 
he  has  none,  none  is  needed  for  defense. 

An  attack  made  upon  a  man  at  close  quarters  by  the  use 
of  a  sandbag  or  any  other  weapon  in  the  hands  cannot  be  met 
practically  with  a  revolver.  There  is  no  time  or  opportunity 
for  its  use. 

The  proposition  is  therefore  sound  that,  if  no  one  carried  a 
pistol  for  offense,  none  would  be  needed  for  defense. 

Shotguns  and  rifles  are  used  in  hunting,  but  not  the  revolver. 
The  ordinary  revolver  of  commerce,  the  one  which  a  man  can 
carry  concealed,  has  no  use  in  modern  warfare.  There  is  no 
legitimate  use  anywhere  for  such  a  weapon. 

September,  1907,  officials  of  the  New  York  police  department, 
acting  under  Commissioner  Bingham's  orders,  took  5,000  re- 
volvers out  to  sea  beyond  Sandy  Hook  and  threw  them  over- 
board. The  literary  secretary  of  the  commissioner  said  it  re- 
minded him  of  the  Doges  who  used  to  wed  the  sea  with  rings. 
If  the  New  York  ceremony  was  not  so  richly  symbolical  it  cer- 
tainly was  vastly  more  sensible. 

These  revolvers  Avere  the  results  of  eighteen  months  of  police 
seizures.  Some  of  them  were  automatic  weapons  in  the  $2S 
class,  and  others  were  of  the  common  variety  used  by  small 
boy  initiates  in  crime.  Together  they  were  worth  at  least  $15,- 
000.  Not  so  very  long  ago  New  York  City  held  an  auction 
sale  every  year  just  before  the  Fourth  of  July  at  which  all  con- 
fiscated weapons  were  sold.  Tlioroby  Fourth  of  July  killings 
were  made  easy  and  cheap,  and  crime  at  all  other  times  of  tlio 
year  was  encouraged,  for  most  of  the  weapons  went  to  pawn- 
brokers and  second-hand  dealers,  who  put  them  back  in  the 
hands  tliat  woukl  use  them  Avorst.  Tlie  police  have  one  instance 
of  a  revolver  that  to  their  knowledge  came  back  into  their  pos- 
session four  times  in  this  way. 

It  is  wise  to  destroy  these  weapons,  but  consider  how  little 
good  is  accomplished   compared    with    what   miglit   bo   aceom- 


SALE  OF  DANGEKOUS  WEAPONS  511 

plished  by  original  control  of  the  sale  of  weapons.  The  city 
saerificeg  the  $15,000  or  something  less  which  it  might  have  got 
for  tliei^c  weapons,  but  if  it  would  take  $15,000  and  spend  it 
vigorously  in  regulating  the  sale  of  weapons,  in  licensing  and 
perhaps  heavily  taxing  all  dealers,  in  requiring  the  keeping  of 
complete  records  of  sales  and  in  prosecuting  all  persons  carrying 
concealed  weapons,  it  would  accomplish  very  much  more  to  the 
same  end. 

Chicago  is  a  city  in  which  unlimited  laxity  is  allowed  dealers 
in  pistols.  The  way  is  made  easy  for  the  criminal  who  wants  to 
arm  himself.  Despite  the  successful  experience  of  other  cities 
in  regulating  the  sales  of  weapons,  the  council  is  reluctant 
to  give  the  city  a  stronger  ordinance. 

Suicide  with  the  revolver  is  a  favorite  method  of  self-destruc- 
tion with  men.  Press  the  muzzle  against  the  head  or  heart,  a 
slight  pressure  of  the  forefinger — instant  oblivion  follows. 

The  bandit  who  holds  up  the  railroad  train  and  robs  the 
passengers  almost  invariably  uses  a  revolver.  With  this  small 
weapon  he  terrorizes  and  robs  an  entire  trainload  of  travelers. 

The  vicious  carry  pistols  with  criminal  intent,  but  there  is 
also  a  very  large  class,  which  might  be  designated  as  a  "weak" 
class,  which  carries  the  pistol  without  any  criminal  intent,  but 
under  the  influence  of  a  fascination  for  the  handling  of  deadly 
weapons.  Among  certain  classes  of  negroes  it  is  the  habit  to 
carry  pistols  or  other  deadly  weapons  to  balls,  parties  or  other 
places  where  they  congregate,  and  they  carry  them,  apparently, 
to  a  certain  extent,  as  a  matter  of  ornament,  something  on  the 
principle  of  our  gentlemanly  forefathers  of  a  few  hundred  years 
ago,  who  considered  no  full-dress  equipment  complete  without 
the  rapier.  The  very  fact  that  these  weapons  are  present  leads 
to  brawls  and  quarrels,  which  result  only  too  frequently  in  kill- 
ing, or  an  attempt  to  kill. 

It  is  dangerous  to.  put  into  the  hands  of  a  weak  person  a 
weapon  which  may  carry  death  and  destruction  by  the  small 
pressure  of  the  finger.     The  very  handling  of  such  weapons 


51-^  SUPPKEfSS  MANUFAOTUKE  AiND 

seems  to  breed  the  desire  to  use  them.  The  situation  is  some- 
thing similar  to  tMt  of  a  man  who  gazes  over  the  brink  of  a 
precipice  and  to  whom  there  comes  an  almost  irresistible  desire 
to  throw  himself  over. 

There  would  he  some  force  in  the  argument  that  the  law- 
abiding  citizen  has  the  right  to  carry  a  revolver  to  protect  him- 
self from  thugs  if  his  pistol  were  any  real  protection;  but  it  is 
noL.  The  attack  from  the  thug  on  the  highway  comes  so  sud- 
denly and  unexpectedly  that  there  is  rarely  an  opportunity  to  use 
a  weapon  in  defense ;  and,  even  if  it  should  occasionally  happen 
that  a  mail  would  be  at  a  disadvantage  because  he  had  no  pistol, 
tills  loss  to  the  community  is  outweighed  a  thousand  to  one  by 
the  evils  which  follow  its  use. 

Why  should  we  permit  men  to  manufacture  and  sell  instru- 
ments of  crime — weapons  which  are  designed  for  no  other  pur- 
pose ?  We  do  have  laws  which  prevent  the  free  sale  of  poisons, 
based  upon  the  fact  that  poisons  may  be  used  as  a  means  of  self- 
destruction  or  in  the  destruction  of  others.  But  we  have  no 
safeguards  against  the  purchase  and  use  of  these  other  deadly 
agencies. 

A  brilliant  display  of  deadly  weapons  may  be  found  in  any 
first-class  hardware  store,  one  which  is  peculiarly  tempting  to 
the  young,  the  weak  and  the  vicious.  Pawnshops  are  heavily 
stocked  with  weapons  of  this  character. 

There  are  a  hundred  places  on  the  streets  of  Chicago,  par- 
ticularly on  Clark  and  State  streets,  where  may  be  found  in 
cases  standing  in  front  of  stores  a  display  of  brass  knuckles, 
dirks  and  revolvers,  which  can  be  purchased  at  a  very  small 
price — and  without  restrictions  of  any  kind.  Yet  they  are 
purchased,  almost  exclusively,  to  be  used  as  instruments  of 
crime. 

Experience  has  demonstrated  that  the  laws  which  forbid  the 
carrying  of  concealed  weapons  are  not  effective;  and  it  is  not 
possible  that,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  they  can  he  entirely 
so.     There  is  onlv  one  sure  and  effective  wav  of  preventing  the 


SALE  ()V  DANUEKOIS   WEAPON'S  513 

criminal  use  of  these  deadly  weapons  -that  is,  to  make  it  im- 
possihlo  for  men  to  get  hold  of  them.  This  can  he  done  onlv 
by  forljidding  their  mannfactnre  and  sale.  The  State,  in  the 
exercise  of  its  police  power,  has  authority  to  pass  laws  of  this 
character. 

1  submit  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  community  to  demand 
the  i^assage  of  such  laws.  There  seems  to  be  no  answer  to  this 
ju'oposition  when  you  consider  that  these  articles  are  not  manu- 
factured to  sell  for  any  legitimate  purpose,  and  that  to  deprive 
men  of  the  privilege  of  manufacturing  and  selling  deadly  weap- 
ons does  not,  in  any  degree,  deprive  the  community  of  anything 
which  may  be  of  any  real  use  or  benefit. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  prevent  as  well  as  to  punish 
crime  and  to  protect  its  weak  and  vicious  citizens,  so  far  as  it 
can,  from  the  temptation  to  do  wrong.  We  would  not  tempt 
men  to  steal  by  affording  them  easy  opportunities  for  theft, 
especially  if  we  knew  that  they  were  either  weak  or  wicked. 
And  yet,  we  make  absolutely  no  effort  to  keep  deadly  weapons 
out  of  dangerous  hands.  We  do  attempt  to  forbid  their  con- 
cealment. Practically  this  attempt  is  a  failure  and,  in  effect, 
we  permit  men  to  carry  deadly  weapons  which  may  be  success- 
fully concealed  until  the  very  moment  they  are  brought  into  use. 

A  great  deal  of  the  lurid  literature  has  grown  up  around  the 
pistol.  The  cowboy  with  his  gun  play  has  always  been  an 
attractive  character  in  fiction.  No  doubt  there  is  a  time  in  the 
pioneer  life  of  a  community  when  there  seems  to  be  some  excuse 
for  the  use  of  the  revolver.  But  a  dispassionate  view  of  this 
subject,  having  in  mind  the  welfare  of  a  settled,  organized  State, 
every  part  of  which  is  pervaded  by  law  and  within  its  restrain- 
ing influence,  points  to  the  conclusion  that  the  time  has  come  to 
legislate  revolvers,  dirks  and  brass  knuckles  out  of  existence. 

QUEEKS  THE  TOWN. 

The  elaborate  display  of  revolvers,  dirks  and  brass  knuckles 
in  shop  Avindows  creates  a  most  unfavorable  impression  on  vis- 


514  SUPPKESS  MANUFACTURE  AND 

itors.  Many  travelers  like  to  walk  to  their  hotels  for  the  exercise 
after  the  long  journey  from  the  east. 

They  get  their  first  impression  of  Chicago  from  a  walk  up 
Clark  or  State  street. 

On  all  sides  they  see  revolvers,  bludgeons,  sandbags  and  slung- 
shots.  "Ah !  This  is  the  West  at  last,"  say  many.  "Now  look 
out  for  Indians  and  grizzy  bears." 

Upon  Chieagoans  who  witness  these  exhibitions  of  criminal 
tools  daily  the  effect  is  most  depressing.  It  makes  them  think 
that  civilization  is  still  far  off.  In  New  York  there  is  an  ordi- 
nance forbidding  pawnshops  to  display  such  weapons  in  the  win- 
dow. 

The  accidental  shootings,  alone,  caused  by  the  careless  hand- 
ling of  pistols,  would  justif}^  a  law  preventing  their  manufac- 
ture and  sale.  What  possible  benefit  can  be  suggested  to  offset 
the  evils  which  we  have  spoken  of  ?  Certainly  the  idea  of  indi- 
vidual liberty  cannot  be  carried  to  the  extent  of  making  it  the 
duty  of  a  State  to  afford  a  man  the  facilities  for  the  commission 
of  crime.  There  is  no  right  involved  in  the  matter  which  is 
worthy  of  respect.     Let  me  give  you  a  few  illustrations  : 

A  negro  carried  his  revolver  with  him  to  a  ball.  This  was 
customary.  During  a  lull  in  the  dance,  while  talking  with  his 
companions — men  and  women — he  pulls  out  this  revolver  and 
shows  it  around  for  the  admiration  of  his  friends.  He  is  under 
the  impression  that  it  is  not  loaded.  He  places  it  playfully  at 
the  head  of  his  sweetheart,  pulls  the  trigger,  and  she  drops  dead. 

That  chamber  happened  to  be  loaded.  It  was  determined  to 
be  a  case  of  wanton  carelessness  on  his  part  and  he  was  sentenced 
to  tM'o  years  in  the  penitentiary.  Why  should  a  man  like  that 
be  allowed  to  carry  a  pistol  at  all?  Under  what  possible  cir- 
cumstances could  he  use  it  in  any  legitimate  way  ? 

A  few  months  ago  the  cashier  in  a  bank,  a  valuable  citizen, 
in  a  neighboring  town,  sat  down  at  his  desk  in  a  despondent 
moment.  He  opened  the  drawer,  saw  the  revolver  lying  there, 
and,  overcome  by  an  irresistible  impulse,  he  placed  the  muzzle 


SALE  OF  DANGEROUS  WEAPONS  515 

to  his  head,  pulled  the  trigger  and — he  is  a  dead  man !  There 
is  not  one  chance  in  a  thousand  that  this  man  would  either 
have  taken  poison,  with  its  lingering  agonies,  cut  his  throat, 
hung  himself  or  jumped  off  the  bridge. 

The  other  day,  in  the  country  near  by,  a  man  with  his  hands 
in  his  pockets  stepped  up  to  a  wagon  standing  in  front  of  his 
door  and  said  to  the  driver:  "You  made  an  insulting  remark 
about  me  to  my  wife  a  few  weeks  ago.  Will  you  apologize?" 
The  driver  replied :  "I  do  not  know  that  I  made  such  a  remark." 
"Well,"  the  man  replied,  "your  time  has  come."  He  pulled  out 
his  pistol,  which  he  had  held  concealed  all  the  time  in  his  hand, 
and  fired  the  shot;  the  driver  of  the  wagon  fell  over  the  dash- 
board— dead.  Here,  without  warning,  without  the  slightest 
ground  to  expect  such  an  act,  the  man,  who  might,  under  any 
other  circumstances,  have  had  some  possible  chance  for  defense, 
was  hurled  into  eternity,  apparently,  to  gratify  the  mere  desire 
to  kill. 

A  few  nights  ago  a  lone  robber  boarded  a  railroad  train  and 
with  a  revolver  compelled  the  conductor  and  porter  to  walk 
through  the  car  in  front  of  him  and  demanded  of  the  passen- 
gers that  they  surrender  their  money  and.  jewels — which  the 
passengers  promptly  proceeded  to  do.  The  entire  train  was  held, 
up  by  a  single  pistol,  a  thing  which  would  be  absolutely  impos- 
sible with  any  other  weapon.  A  revolver  enables  the  highway- 
man to  use  one  of  his  hands  free,  which  he  could  not  if  he  had 
either  a  shotgun  or  a  rifle. 

And  so  it  goes.  Instance  after  instance  is  within  the  recollec- 
tion of  everyone  where  crime  is  made  possible  by  the  easy  pos- 
session of  this  deadly  weapon — the  revolver.  The  point  I  wish  to 
emphasize  is,  that  there  is  no  legitimate  u'se  for  the  revolver 
anywhere  in  the  world ;  no  reason  for  its  existence ;  no  legitimate 
use  for  the  dirk  knife  or  the  brass  knuckles. 

All  these  things  are  manufactured  and  sold  as  instruments 
of  crime.  And,  although  their  deadly  use  is  familiar  to  every- 
body, yet  we  seem  to  take  it  for  granted  that  the  right  to  manu- 


51G  .SL'PrKKSS  MAM'FAC'J'rKE  A^'D 

factiire  nnd  pell  them  nntl  the  right  to  own  them  are  rights 
Avhich  the  law  is  bound  to  protect.  We  !^eek  oiilv  tn  impose  a 
restriction  that  i:;  vaiu  and  ineffective. 

Pistol  earr^dng  is  an  American  habit;  one  which  is  compara- 
tively infrequent  abroad,  and  there  is  in  Europe — particularly 
in  England — compared  Avitli  us,  a  proportionately  small  fraction 
of  shooting  affairs.  Even  policemen  in  London  do  not  carry 
revolvers. 

It  is  time  for  us  to  take  this  evil  seriously  in  hand  and  effect 
a  cure,  which,  to  be  effective,  must  be  radical. 

I  favor  a  law  restricting  the  display  and  sale  of  firearms. 
Carrying  a  loaded  revolver  concealed  ought  to  be  made  a  felony. 
For  carrying  a  concealed  weapon — firearm,  dirk,  brass  knucks, 
razor,  knife,  etc. — the  penalty  cannot  be  too  severe.  I  would 
cut  out  the  tine  and  make  the  penalty  for  carrying  a  con- 
cealed weapon  three  to  twelve  months  in  the  Workhouse  and 
from  two  to  five  years  in  the  penitentiary. 

A  severe  penalty  would  help  the  police  to  break  up  this  crim- 
inal habit.  It  would  help  to  tame  the  ex-convict  who  returns 
to  a  life  of  crime.  It  Avould  aid  in  overcoming  the  influence 
of  the  cheap  novel  among  light-minded  youth.  Sale  of  weap- 
ons which  can  be  concealed  on  the  person  ought  to  be  restricted 
to  officeBS  of  the  law.  If  permits  are  issued  at  all,  they  ought  to 
be  given  by  a  responsible  officer  of  the  law. 

Concealed  weapons  are  the  cause  of  a  large  per  cent  of  the 
crimes  committed  in  which  weapons  are  used.  There  were 
many  arrests  for  carrying  concealed  weapons  in  the  last  official 
year.  Thousands  of  people  carry  them.  Every  man  with  a  con- 
cealed weapon,  unless  he  has  a  right  to  carry  it  to  serve  the  pub- 
lic peace,  is  a  danger  to  the  citizens  of  Chicago.  Men  who  carry 
concealed  weapons  imagine  they  would  protect  themselves  with 
them;  often  they  would,  but  more  often  the  weapons  serve  no 
good  purpose.  !Make  the  law  against  promiscuous  sale  and  car- 
rying of  concealed  Aveapons  so  severe  that  it  will  be  necessary 
for  the  officers  of  tlio  IfiAv  onlv  to  carrv  1hom. 


GETTING  SOMETHING  FOR 
NOTHING. 


HOW    THE    WORTHLESS  CERTIFICATE  WORKS. 

Stock  Transfers  From  Worthless  Stock  to  Worthless  Stock 
a  Game  That  Fools  the  Uninitiated. 

How    the    Rhodus    Boys    Worked    the    Old    "Come-On." 

One  of  the  most  open  frauds,  one  which  should  not  for  a 
minute  have  deceived  any  investor  in  "securities"  and  things, 
was  unearthed  by  Detective  Clifton  E.  ^Yoold^idge,  and  the 
results  of  his  work  were  shown  in  Chicago  when  Thomas  Eho- 
dus  and  Birch  F.  Rhodus  were  indicted  by  the  federal  grand 

The  Central  Life  Securities  Company  in  Chicago  was  ap- 
parently a  sound  concern.  The  managers  were  always  care- 
ful to  keep  money  in  the  bank  and  any  insinuation  that  this 
was  not  a  sound  company  was  immediately  refuted  by  bank- 
ers who  were  handling  the  Ehodus  money. 

But  Detective  Wooldridge  had  seen  so  much  of  "guaranty" 
and  "security"  that  he  was  suspicious  of  all  companies  which 
made  this  name  a  rallying  point  in  their  literature. 

Also  the  Ehodus  brothers  seemed  to  be  using  the  same  old 
catch- words  which  had  beguiled  men  into  the  fake  underwrit- 
ing schemes.  So  the  detective  was  not  impressed  by  "secur- 
ity" or  "guarantee."  He  proceeded  to  investigate  the  record 
of  the  Ehodus  brothers. 

And  ere  the  great  scandal  began  to  open  out  and  assert  it- 
self, Wooldridge  found  that  the  Ehodus  brothers  had  been 
in  the  lottery  business  in  Denver  in  1889  and  1890.  Now  it 
does  not  conduce  to  belief  in  the  soundness  of  a  firm  to  find 


518         GETTING  SOMETHING  FOE  NOTHING 

that  its  managers  have  been  common,  cheap  lottery  workers. 
So  Wooldridge  went  into  the  record. 

In  the  course  of  his  examinations  he  discovered  that  the 
Chicago  Independent  in  January,  1899,  contained  the  follow- 
ing notice : 

In  1889  and  1890,  Thos.  Ehodus  and  Birch  F.  Rhodus  wer<' 
operating  the  Denver  Lottery  Company,  later  called  the  Den- 
ver State  Lottery.  The  following  are  extracts  from  the  Chi- 
cago Independent,  January,  1899,  number:  "The  attention  of 
ihe  postoflfice  authorities  was  attracted  to  this  scheme  by  seeing 
circulars  of  the  Denver  Lottery  Company  about  August  20, 
1890,  sajdng,  'All  remittances  to  be  addressed  to  A.  C.  Ross 
&  Co./  who  were  none  other  than  Thomas  F.  Rhodus,  Jr. 
Ross,  or  Rhodus,  Jr.,  was  arrested  by  postoffice  authorities 
October  5,  1889,  fined  $100  and  costs,  which  was  paid  No- 
vember, 1889.  A.  C.  Johnson,  alias  A.  C.  Ross,  alias  Thomas 
F.  Rhodus,  Jr.,  was  arrested  March,  1890,  and  was  at  that 
time  running  what  was  called  the  Denver  State  Lottery  Com- 
pany, having  changed  its  name  from  Denver  Lottery  Company. 
They  kept  arresting  him  daily  for  over  forty  days.  The 
federal  grand  jury  found  five  indictments,  with  over  one  hun- 
dred counts,  against  A.  C.  Johnson,  alias  Thomas  Rhodus,  Jr., 
for  fraudulent  use  of  the  United  States  mails.  He  then 
changed  his  business  to  the  name  of  Bank  of  Commerce.  Was 
arrested  several  times,  and  then  sold  out,  or  pretended  to  do 
so,  to  Birch  F.  Rhodus. 

•  Trying  Their  Hand  at  Life  Insurance. 

"The  Western  Mutual  Life  Association  of  this  city  has 
been  weighed  in  the  balance  by  the  Missouri  and  Michigan 
State  Insurance  Commissioners  and  found  wanting.  An  ex- 
amination of  the  concern  by  these  officials,  made  as  of  August 
.31,  1898,  has  recently  been  reported  upon.  On  that  date  a 
deficiency  of  assets  under  the  most  favorable  showing  of 
$55,635.36  was  shown  to  exist.  In  other  words,  the  associa- 
tion was  impaired  that  amount. 


GETTING  SOMETHING  FOR  NOTHING         519 

"President  Thomas  F.  Rhodus  and  Vice-President  Birch  F. 
llhodus  each  received  a  salary  of  $10,000  a  year,  and  there 
seems  to  have  been  a  handsome  expense  allowance  besides.  Sec- 
retary Charles  S.  Johnson  received  $7,000  annually;  Second 
Vice-President  John  B.  Kirk,  of  James  S.  Kirk  &  Co.,  and 
Treasurer  J.  V.  Clarke,  President  of  the  Hibernian  Bank, 
under  an  arrangement,  the  annual  sum  of  $27,000." 

The  facts  here  cited  were  disclosed  by  the  investigation  made 
by  the  Insurance  Commissioners  mentioned  above.  The  asso- 
ciation did  not  long  survive  this  incident,  and  its  assets  were 
soon  taken  over  by  the  Illinois  Life  Insurance  Company. 

When  the  records  of  these  men  are  considered,  it  is  believed 
that  the  boldness  of  their  operations,  the  ease  with  which  they 
have  obtained  the  endorsement  of  representative  business  men 
in  Chicago  and  elsewhere  for  their  various  schemes,  and  the 
way  in  which,  unchecked,  they  have  personally  profited  from 
their  operations  in  the  name  of  legitimate  business,  are  abso- 
lutely without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  this  city. 

Any  number  of  stockholders  in  the  different  companies  stand 
ready  to  testify  to  the  correctness  of  the  foregoing.  Every 
company  started  and  operated  by  these  men  appears  to  have 
been  exploited  for  the  sole  benefit  of  themselves.  The  stock- 
holders have,  with  a  few  insignificant  exceptions,  lost  every 
dollar  invested. 

This  was  the  opening  gun  in  the  Rhodus  campaign.  When 
Detective  Woold  ridge  began  boring  in  he  found  that  in  addi- 
tion to  the  Central  Life  Securities  Company  (whatever  that 
might  mean),  the  Rhodus  brothers  were  promoting  the  moss- 
grown  mining  proposition,  and  that  the  Mina  Grande  Mining 
Company,  with  certain  holes  in  the  ground  located  in  the 
State  of  Sonora,  Mexico,  was  also  a  Rhodus  Company. 

The  Mercantile  Finance  Company,  which  was  capitalized  at 
the  sum  of  $1,000  in  the  State  of  Maine,  Maine  being  almost 
as  easy  as  New  Jersey  as  a  corporation  state,  was  the  basis 
for  the  manipulation  of  all  the  other  companies.     Even  Maine 


520         UETTINa  SOMETHING  FOK  NOTHING 

would  not  stand  for  a  big  capitalization  of  penniless  adven- 
turers, so  to  make  the  capitalization  bug  the  services  of  the 
Mina  Grande  and  the  State  of  Sonora,  where  things  are  still 
easier  than  in  Maine,  were  called  in  and  the  capitalization  of 
the  Mina  Grande  was  rated  at  $2,000,000. 

This  did  not  look  nice  to  the  detective.  There  was  too  much 
hunting  of  easy  ground.  He  bored  in  further.  Then  he  dis- 
covered the  true  inwardness  of  the  situation.  Around  Joplin, 
Webb  City,  Carterville  and  other  cities  in  Southwest  Missouri, 
are  certain  very  fine  lead  and  zinc  mines.  Joplin  is  the  first 
zinc  producing  city  in  the  world.  It  has  been  known  as  such 
for  a  number  of  years.  The  lead  from  this  district  is  second 
only  in  output  to  that  of  Leadville,  Colo.  Here  was  another 
easy  chance. 

Of  course  any  one  who  knew  anything  at  all  about  the  lay 
of  the  land  in  Jasper  County,  Mo.,  knew  that  all  the  possible 
lead  and  zinc  lands  had  been  snapped  up  years  ago;  that 
"Pat"  Sullivan  of  Joplin  had  been  a  political  boss  on  the 
strength  of  his  turning  monopolist  of  the  very  districts  which 
produced  the  lead  and  zinc.  But  the  public  did  not  know  it. 
.\t  lead  not  the  great,  gullible  public.  They  only  knew  that 
Jasper  County  was  full  of  lead  and  zinc  and  they  in  some 
v.ay  formed  the  conclusion  that  the  whole  county  was  under- 
laid with  the  precious  metals. 

Therefore  it  was  easy  for  the  Rhodus  ''companies*'  to  start 
tho  "Independent  Zinc  Securities  Company,"  bore  a  few  holes 
in  the  grc  rxl  which  would  produce  fish-worms  and  black  ants 
and  nothing  else,  and  "transfer  the  stock  of  the  'Mina  Grande' 
to  the  'Independent  Zinc'."  This  only  was  used  as  a  safe- 
guard where  a  stockholder  of  ]\Iina  Grande  began  to  get  peevish 
because  the  holes  in  the  hillsides  of  Sonora  produced  nothing. 

But  the  Rhodus  game  was  not  yet  complete.  The  Mercan- 
tile Finance  Company,  with  its  thousand-dollar  capitalization 
in  the  State  of  Maine,  might  get  into  difficulties  transferring 
stock  to   the   "Independent   Zinc,"  because   somebody   might 


GETTING  SOxMETHI>v'G  FOK  NOTHING         521 

ImoAV  enough  about  Jasper  County  to  realize  tliat  there  was 
not  enough  lead  in  that  county  outside  the  control  of  the 
lead  trust  to  make  a  small-sized  pea. 

Therefore  it  needed  another  company  to  "transfer"  the 
peevish  stockholder  to.  So  the  Mexican  Development  Com- 
pany was  formed  by  the  Mercantile,  the  capital  of  the  new  com- 
pany being  $1,000,000,  and  its  assets  90,000  shares  of  the 
"Mina  Grande"  stock,  the  par  value  of  which  would  not  buy 
a  cigarette  paper. 

The  literature  of  the  new  company  also  carried  the  literature 
of  the  "Mina  Grande,"  with  a  glowing  account  of  how  the 
new  company  was  going  to  turn  Mexico  upside  down  and  en- 
rich the  whole  world  from  the  scorpion  holes  in  the  Sonora 
hillsides. 

The  stockholders  in  the  Mexican  Development  are  still  wait- 
ing for  returns  on  their  investment.  But  the  American  people 
Y.-ere  getting  wise  to  the  mining  game,  even  when  the  magic 
name  of  Jasper  County  was  used.  So  to  supplement  Mexico 
and  Jasper  County  the  Mercantile  Finance  Company,  the  old 
reliable  thousand-dollar  concern,  organized  in  rapid  succession 
tlie  Boise  King  Placers  Company,  which  was  going  to  wash 
fortunes  out  of  the  inoffensive  mud  of  Idaho  rivers,  the  Moose 
Creek  Placer  Company,  which  had  the  same  end  in  view,  the 
American  Fibre  Company,  which  had  about  as  much  fibre  about 
it  as  a  paper  candy  box,  The  Illinois  Finance  Company  (fren- 
zied finance,  all  right).  The  Indiana  Securities  Company,  which 
"secured"  the  money  of  the  investor,  but  secured  nothing  else. 
The  Minnesota  Securities  Company,  and  then  with  a  great 
play  to  the  galleries.  The  Finance  Company  of  America. 

From  one  to  another  of  these  absolutely  bankrupt  and  worth- 
less concerns  the  investor  was  thrown  back  and  forth  like  a 
shuttlecock.  If  he  was  sore  on  Independent  Zinc  he  got 
American  Finance.  If  he  became  convinced  that  American 
Finance  was  worthless  paper  he  got  Idaho  mud  in  the  shape 
of  "Moose  Creek  Placers." 


523         GETTING  SOMETHING  FOR  NOTHING 

Interest-bearing  bonds  with  coupons  attached  were  floated 
on  a  number  of  these  companies  and  sold  largely  through  the 
mails. 

Just  here  Uncle  Sam,  urged  on  by  reports  made  to  the 
Chicago  Postoffice  Inspectors  by  Wooldridge,  took  a  hand. 
When  Wooldridge  began  boring  in  the  bankers  and  other  in- 
fluential friends  of  the  Ehodus  people,  who  had  been  wise 
enough  to  get  good  political  affiliations  as  an  adjunct  to  their 
business,  became  extremely  busy  and  influences  were  brought  to 
bear  to  call  Wooldridge  off  the  case,  because  he  was  the  most 
feared  man  in  America  on  a  fraud  game. 

Wooldridge  accepted  the  recall  gracefully,  but  immediately 
stepped  over  the  way  to  the  Federal  Building,  and  called  upon 
Postoffice  Inspector  William  Ketcham,  who  is  acknowledged 
by  everyone  in  the  secret  service  of  the  United  States  and  the 
general  public  to  be  the  shrewdest,  most  astute,  and  most  in- 
defatigable man  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  Government. 
Wooldridge  convinced  the  great  inspector  that  there  was  some- 
thing doing  in  the  "Rhodus"  line.  Ketcham  complimented 
Wooldridge  highly  on  the  manner  in  which  he  had  gathered 
the  data  together.  Then  Ketcham  got  busy  Jiimself.  When 
two  such  men  as  Wooldridge  and  Ketcham  get  busy  it  is  not 
long  until  the  explosion  comes. 

Nor  was  it  long  coming  in  the  Ehodus  case.  First  came  the 
receivership  of  the  Central  Life  Securities  Company.  And 
here  another  big  man  and  an  incorruptible  one  got  into  the 
game — none  other  than  John  C.  Fetzer,  founder  of  the  "Fetzer 
System"  of  receiverships  that  receive  for  the  victims  of  de- 
funct concerns,  in  place  of  and  for  the  receiver.  This  man  was 
fresh  from  the  great  Stensland  Bank  fraud,  where  as  re- 
ceiver he  had  paid  72  cents  on  the  dollar  and  wound  up  a 
record  receivership  in  less  than  one  year,  whereas  the  usual 
time  taken  in  such  eases  was  ten  years. 

When  Fctzer's  name  appeared  as  receiver  there  was  dismay 
in  the  Ehodus  camp.     The  triple  combination  was  enough  to 


GETTING  SOMETHING  FOR  NOTHING  523 


frighten  anyone,  especially  where  the  guilty  conscience  was  a 
factor.  Fetzer  immediately  went  to  work.  He  called  in  his 
fighting  aids.  He  told  Ketcham  and  Wooldridge  to  "keep  it 
up."  When  the  Ehodns  people  began  to  give  evasive  answers 
before  the  Referee  in  Bankruptc}^,  it  was  a  short  step,  with 
the  information  which^had  been  gathered,  to  bring  the  matter 


rm         (iETTlNC   SOMETHING  FOK  NOTHINU 

before  the  Federal  (-iraiKl  Jury.  And  the  indictments  of  the 
Rhoduses  folloAved. 

The  investigation  of  the  Rhodiis  manner  of  doing  busi- 
ness showed  that  the  shrewd  manipulators  of  fish-worm  holes 
and  scorpion  nests  had  not  neglected  the  feminine  element. 
The  treasurer  of  the  old  thousand-dollar  stand  by  hailing  from 
the  pine  tree  state,  the  Mercantile  Finance  Company,  was 
Mary  C.  Scully,  who  had  been  with  the  Rhodus  gang  since 
1894.  Katherine  T.  Scully,  a  very  young  w^oman,  who  had 
recently  appeared  on  the  scene,  was  listed  as  treasurer  of  the 
good  old  "thousand-dollar"  medium.  She  came  into  the  sec- 
retaryship as  a  result  of  a  shuffle  of  officers  of  the  Ehodus  com- 
panies, the  shuffle  of  officials  being  found  to  be  as  necessary  as 
that  of  the  shuffled  stock. 

It  w^as  also  found  that  the  Ehoduses  came  to  Chicago  about 
1894  and  organized  the  Western  Mutual  Life  Association.  This 
company  had  a  stormy  career  and  was  finally  merged  into  the 
Illinois  Life  Insurance  Co.  The  methods  of  the  Ehoduses  were 
severely  criticised  in  connection  with  this  company  and  all 
confidence  in  it  was  destroyed. 

Prior  to  coming  to  Chicago,  Thomas  and  Birch  F.  Ehodus 
operated  a  lottery  at  Denver,  Colo.,  and  in  1889  came  in  con- 
flict with  the  Federal  authorities.  Indictments  are  on  record 
against  them  and  it  is  claimed  that  they  used  various  aliases. 
Thomas  Ehodus  was  convicted  at  Denver  in  Xovember,  1889. 
and  fined. 

During  the  past  four  or  five  years  the  Mercantile  Finance 
Co.  has  offered  the  stock  of  numerous  mining  schemes,  none 
of  which  has  shown  any  merit,  but  were  officered  and  owned 
by  the  Ehoduses  and  their  associates.  The  methods  employed 
to  sell  stock  in  these  enterprises  were  (according  to  bills  filed 
in  court  by  the  persons  victimized)  those  of  the  ordinary  swin- 
dler, and  a  close  study  of  the  schemes  and  the  manner  in  which 
they  are  floated  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Ehoduses  are 
not  entitled  to  anv  confidence. 


i;ETTiX(.^  SOMETHING  FOli  NOTHiiNG  o2^ 

At  the  time  of  going  to  press  the  Ehodus  brothers  are  still 
under  indictment.  The  tangle  in  their  affairs  seems  to  show 
conclusivel)^  that  the  matter  will  be  long  and  bitterly  fought, 
but  the  facts  that  have  come  to  light  make  matters  look  very 
dark  for  the  manipulators  of  the  moss-grown  stock-kiting  game. 

Samples  of  the  literature  secured  by  Wooldridge  and  Ketcham 
prove  very  enlightening  to  the  general  public  as  to  the  methods 
of  the  Ehodus'  and  kindred  concerns.    Here  are  a  few  of  them : 

"It  is  a  rule  of  this  company/'  one  pamphlet  of  the  com- 
pany reads,  "not  to  act  as  fiscal  agent  for  any  corporation  un- 
less this  company  is  prominently  represented  in  the  manage- 
ment, so  as  to  be  able  to  protect  the  interests  of  our  clients." 

Assurance  Given  Investors. 

The  cover  of  the  pamphlet  bears  the  assurance: 

"Are  your  interests  protected?  They  are  if  made  through 
the  ilercantile  FinaiTce  Company.  Avoid  risk  of  loss;  make 
certain  of  gain." 

On  another  page  is  a  list  of  high-class  railroad  stocks  to  the 
amount  of  $100,000  which  the  company  is  declared  to  be  the 
possessor  of  in  addition  to  assets  in  stocks,  mortgage  loans, 
cash  on  hand  and  other  collateral.  Careful  reading  of  the 
pamphlet,  however,  shows  that  these  stocks  are  not  a  part  of 
the  exchange  list. 

An  explanation  of  the  system,  which  probably  will  be  a  part 
of  the  testimony  submitted  to  the  grand  jury  in  conjunction 
with  the  tales  of  luckless  investors,  as  printed,  is: 

"Its  plan  is  to  create  profits  for  its  customers  by  aiding  in 
the  intelligent  development  and  working  of  legitimate  mining 
enterprises.  Through  this  system  its  customers  become  careful 
and  conservative  investors.  Furthermore,  they  are  given  an  op- 
portunity to  participate  in  the  vast  wealth  created  in  these  in- 
dustries, having  at  the  same  time  such  assurance  against  loss 
as  would  not  otherwise  be  possible.  It  is  a  rule  of  this  com- 
pany never  to  handle  as  a  fiscal  agent  stock  in  any  property 


.v>(i         (GETTING  .SOMETHING  FOK  NOTHING 

until  after  a  careful  and  thorough  examination  has  been  made. 
It  rejects  those  properties  which  do  not  come  np  to  the  high 
standard  required.  This  accomplishes  for  the  customers  what 
the  individual  investor  by  himself,  unaided,  cannot  afford  to 
do,  for  his  own  investment  is  usually  too  small  to  Justify  h}>^ 
having  this  done  on  his  own  account. 

Purchases  "Guaranteed.'' 

"The  Mercantile  Finance  Company  positively  guarantees  to 
allow  its  customers  the  privilege  of  exchanging  any  stock  pur- 
chased from  it  for  stock  of  any  other  company  which  may  he 
in  the  said  guarantee  fund.  Such  exchange  may  be  made  and 
repeated  as  often  as  desired  during  a  period  of  five  years  fol- 
lowing the  date  of  the  original  purchase.*' 

The  tremendous  activity  of  Inspector  Ketcham,  ably  as- 
sisted by  AYooldridge,  has  been  at  the  bottom  of  the  exposure 
of  tliis  whole  abominable  swindle.  But  this  is  by  no  means 
the  first  case  in  which  these  two  men  have  joined  hands  and 
caused  an  npheaval  in  pseudo-financial  circles. 

These  two  men  first  began  to  work  together  in  the  famous 
AVild  Cat  Insurance  raids.  These  raids  furnish  one  of  the  most 
dramatic  chapters  in  the  financial  history  of  the  United  States 
if  not  of  the  world.  The  Wild  Cats  had  stolen  millions  of 
dollars.  Their  methods  involved  brutal  filchings  from  the 
])oor,  heartless  commercial  brigandage  and  finally  the  running 
to  earth  and  conviction  of  the  ringleaders  and  promoters  of 
the  concerns.  The  work  was  all  done  by  Wooldridge  and 
Ketcham. 

It  would  bo  improper  to  close  the  story  of  tlie  great  Rhodus 
frauds  without  some  mention  of  Attorney  Patrick  II.  O'Donnell, 
who,  by  his  wise  counsel  and  careful  review  of  the  matters  sub- 
mitted in  evidence,  materially  assisted  the  two  men  who  had 
most  to  do  with  the  unearthing  of  the  frauds. 


WANT  AD.   FAKERS. 


THE  PETTY  DOLLAR  SWINDLERS    PUT  OUT  OF 

BUSINESS  IN  CHICAGO  BY  DETECTIVE 

CLIFTON  R.  WOOLDRIDGE. 

The  cheap  little  grafter  who  takes  dollars,  dimes,  nickels  and 
pennies  from  the  poor,  while  not  exactly  a  great  fiiiancier,  is 
one  of  the  smoothest  propositions  with  which  secret  service  men 
and  federal  inspectors  are  confronted.  His  main  hold  is  on 
the  public  press,  because  he  operates  through  the  seemingly 
innocuous   want   advertisement. 

The  statements  of  some  advertisers  may  be  taken  literally; 
some  should  be  taken  with  caution,  and  some  should  not  be 
taken  at  all.  In  the  postoffice  department  at  Washington,  in 
the  files  of  the  assistant  attorney  general,  one  may  study  the 
methods  of  the  black  sheep  of  the  advertising  fold  against 
whom  fraud  orders  have  been  issued.  A  fraud  order  is  an 
order  directed  to  a  postmaster  forbidding  him  to  deliver  letters 
to  a  certain  person  or  concern  or  to  cash  money  orders  for 
them. 

If  a  man  swindles  his  neighbor  without  using  the  mails  th;^ 
postolfiee  de]5artment  will  not  interfere  with  liim.  although 
the  police  may,  but  if  he  attempts  to  make  Uncle  Sam  a  party 
to  the  swindle,  the  old  gentleman  lets  loose  on  him  a  horde 
of  postoffice  inspectors,  who  not  only  put  a  stop  to  the  busi- 
ness, but  frequently  put  the  swindler  himself  behind  the  bars. 
The  department  issues  year  in  and  year  out  an  average  of  one 
fraud  order  a  day,  and  an  examination  of  the  reports  of  the 
inspectors  who  have  investigated  these  cases  is  apt  to  con- 
vince one  that  the  long-accepted  estimate  that  there  is  a  sucker 


52S  WANT  AD.  FAKEK.S 

born  every  minute  is  much  too  low.     The  schemes  most  com- 
monly employed  are  here  set  forth. 

Home  Work  Scheme  Catches  Many. 

The  chance  to  earn  a  few  dollars  a  week  without  leaving 
home  appeals  to  many  women  whose  household  duties  occupy 
tlie  greater  part  of  their  daylight  hours.  Unfortunately  the 
work-at-home  scheme  catches  not  only  the  woman  whose  ob- 
ject is  merely  to  earn  a  little  pin  monev  and  who  in  many 
cases  can  afford  to  lose  a  dollar  or  two  without  suffering  any 
hardship  as  a  consequence,  but  it  gathers  in  as  well  the  work- 
ing girl  eager  to  add  to  her  scanty  earnings  by  engaging  in 
some  remunerative  M^ork  at  home. 

The  work-at-home  scheme  is  operated  in  a  variety  of  ways, 
but  the  underlying  principle  is  the  same  in  all  cases.  Some- 
times the  work  to  be  done  consists  in  embroidering  doilies  or 
in  making  lace,  and  in  other  cases  it  consists  in  filling  in 
with  gilt  paint  price  tickets  printed  in  outline.  In  all  cases 
the  work  is  described  as  easy,  the  advertisements  assuring  the 
reader  that  experience  is  unnecessary.  In  all  cases,  too,  the 
victim  is  obliged  to  buy,  from  the  promoters  of  the  scheme, 
"materials"  or  a  lace-making  machine  or  some  other  object 
before  she  is  given  any  work.  The  following  description  of  a 
scheme  against  which  a  fraud  order  was  issued  last  May  will 
make  clear  the  methods  pursued  by  all  fakers  of  the  work-at- 
home  class.    The  advertisement  in  this  case  reads  as  follows : 

Home  Work,  $9  to  $15;  No  Canvassing. 
$5  to  $6  weekly  working  evenings;  experience  unneces- 
sary.    Inclose  stamps  for  instructions,  sample,  etc.     Ad- 
dress B,  Wilson   &   Co.,  603  Walnut  street,   Philadelphia, 
Pa. 

Money  Charged  for  Fake  "Outfits." 

To  those  who  reply  to  this  advertisement  a  circular  letter  is 

sent  stating  that  the  work  required  consists  in  filling  in  with 

bronze  paint  store-window  price  tickets  printed  in  outline,  one 

of  M'hich,  partly  filled  in,  is  inclosed  as  a  sample. 


WAlN'T  AD.  FAKEES 


529 


If  you  don't   know  Jast   where  lo  SO 
Or  ho\\    »o  <!o  fill-  thin;jr  that  yon 
Wny   bav*'   in   tiilnd— or  If  you   find 
That    yoQ    can't    rise— then   advertise. 
A   "Business  Cliances"  ad   udvancea 
^our    desire*    to  rnnny   bayers— 
And   our  Want    ^d>.   if  you  <j$e  th«m. 
Dilng  ao   many— you   can   ctiuo^C    tbOR) 


The  circular  states  that  the  work  is  easily  done,  requires 
no  previous  experience,  and  that  all  that  is  necessary,  is  to 
d«  the  work  in  a  neat  manner.  Two  dollars  and  a  half  a 
hundred  is  offered  for  tickets  filled  in  as  described,  and  the 
prospective  victim  is  assured  that  she  can  easily  gild  at  least 
100  tickets  a   day.     She  will  require  an  ^''outfit/'  of  course, 


'530  WANT  AD.  FAKEKS 

the  cost  of  which  is  generously  put  at  the  remarkably  low 
price  of  $1.10. 

In  return  for  her  $1.10  the  victim  receives  a  handful  of 
window  tickets,  a  small  bottle  of  bronze  paint,  and  a  brush 
for  applying  it — the  actual  value  of  the  articles  furnished, 
including  postage,  being  fully  covered  by  the  extra  10  cents. 

The  worst  is  yet  to  come.  When  the  woman,  having  parted 
with  her  money  and  having  spent  her  time  in  filling  in  the 
handful  of  tickets  sent  her,  returns  them,  at  hyr  own  expense, 
she  receives,  not  a  check  in  payment  for  the  work  done,  but 
a  circular  letter  stating  that  her  work  is  "unsatisfactory."  She 
may  possess  the  talent  of  a  Eosa  Bonheur  and  a  department 
store  ticket  writer  rolled  into  one,  but  she  will  never  succeed 
in  selling  a  cent's  worth  of  bronzed  price  tickets  to  the  fakers 
who  sold  her  the  "outfit."  Their  business  is  not  to  buy  but  to 
sell,  and  her  fate  is  not  to  sell  but  to  be  sold.  Similar  to 
the  work-at-homc  scheme  is  what  may  be  described  as  the 
letter-writing  dodge.  The  following  is  a  typical  advertisement 
of  its  class: 

LADIES — Earn  $20  per  hundred  writing  short  letters. 
Stamped  envelope  for  particulars.  Gem  Manufacturing 
Company,  Cassopolis,  Mich. 

When  the  M-oman  anxious  to  earn  an  honest  penny  replies 
to  this  ad.  she  receives  the  following  letter: 

Dear    Madam  : 

We  pay  at  the  rate  of  .$20  per  luindred  or  20  cents  for 
each  letter  sent  ns  in  accordanco  with  our  printed  circular 
of  instructions,  and  make  remittances  to  you  of  all  money 
earned  by  you  at  the  end  of  each  week.  The  letter  which  we 
send  you  to  copy  contains  only  eighty  words,  and  can  be 
written  either  with  typewriter  or  with  pen  and  ink,  as  you 
prefer,  and  you  can  readily  see  that  you  can  write  a  number 
of   letters  during  your  leisure  time   each   day. 

You  do  not  pay  us  one  penny  for  anything,  except  .$1  for 
the  instructions  and  for  packing  and  mailing  the  Ideal  Hood- 
winkem    which    we   sn'nd   you. 

There  is  no  canvassing  connected  with  the  work,  and  if  you 
follow  our  instructions  you  can  earn  good  wages  from  the 
start. 

When  the  victim  sends  her  dollar  for  the  instructions  and 


WANT  AD,  FAKEKS  531 

for  the  Ideal  Hoodwinkem  (or  whatever  the  name  of  the  article 
the  fakers  are  selling  happens  to  be),  she  discovers  that  tlic 
20  cents  is  not  to  be  paid  merely  for  writing  a  letter.  Oh,  no  1 
The  20  cents  will  be  paid  only  for  such  letters  as  induce  some 
other  woman  to  part  with  a  dollar  for  one  of  "Our  Ideal  Hood- 
winkeras/'  The  following  letter,  which  is  sent  after  the  un- 
suspecting one's  dollar  has  been  safely  salted  down,  lays  bare 
the  true  inwardness  of  the  scheme: 

Dear   Madam  : 

We  herewith  haud  you  trial  blanks,  also  copy  of  letter  which 
you  are  to  write.  You  are  to  send  these  letters  out  to  ladies, 
and  for  every  letter  which  you  write  and  send  out  and  which 
is  returned  to  us  with  $1  inclosed  for  one  of  our  Ideal  Hood- 
winkems,  with  your  number  on  the  letter,  we  will  send  you  a 
cash  commission  of  20  cents.  4 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  fakers  do  not  expect  their 
victim  to  be  so  stupid  as  to  send  out  the  letters  on  the  terms 
indicated.  The  object  of  the  plan  is  accomplished  when  "dear 
madam"  parts  with  her  dollar  for  the  letter  of  instructions 
and  the  Hoodwinkem,  which  would  be  dear  at  10  cents. 

A  Smooth  Scheme. 

One  of  the  simplest  and  most  effective  schemes  for  hooking 
new  "suckers''  was  adopted  by  a  Dearborn  street  "investment" 
concern.  This  consisted  in  sending  to  a  prospective  victim  a 
check  for  $100,  made  payable  to  some  other  man,  and  accom- 
panied by  a  brief  letter  telling  that  recipient  would  find  in- 
closed his  weekly  dividend  on  his  investment  of  $1,000.  Of 
course  the  marked  "sucker"  knew  nothing  of  the  deal,  and, 
believing  a  mistake  had  been  made  would  return  the  check 
and  letter.  He  at  once  received  in  reply  an  apologetic  letter, 
stating  that  the  first  letter  and  check  had  been  inserted  in  the 
wrong  envelope  through  the  carelessness  of  a  clerk,  it  having 
been  the  intention  to  mail  to  the  recipient  a  circular  instead 
of  another  man's  check  for  dividends.  It  was  enough.  Ten  per 
cent  a  week  was  not  to  be  resisted.     The  "sucker"  almost  in- 


532  WANT  AD.  FAKERS 

variably   opened   negotiations   on   his   own   initiative   and   was 
landed. 

Financial  "Journal"   Frauds. 

The  multiplicity  of  these  schemes  led  to  the  establishment 
of  the  "financial  paper,"  designed,  according  to  the  publisher's 
statement,  to  guard  investors  against  get-rich-quick  frauds.  To 
the  police  these  papers  are  known  as  "special  form  papers." 
The  editor  comprises  the  staff.  The  contents  consist  of  finan- 
cial matter  usually  stolen  from  reputable  journals,  a  formida- 
ble array  of  financial  advertising,  and,  most  important,  "re- 
ports" on  investment  concerns.  For  a  consideration  the  "spe- 
cial form"  paper  tells  its  readers  that  the  "Cotton  Mutual 
Investment  Company"  is  sound  and  reliable.  The  manager 
of  the  "Cotton  Mutual"  buys  as  many  copies  of  the  paper  as 
he  wants,  as  it  has  no  regular  time  of  publication,  and  can 
be  run  off  in  any  quantity  at  any  time  with  the  article  boost- 
ing the  "Cotton  Mutual."  The  get-rich-quick  manager  then 
sees  to  it  that  the  paper  finds  its  way  into  the  hands  5f  his 
"sucker  list,"  or  list  of  names  of  persons  whom  he  hopes  to  be 
able  to  induce  to  "invest." 

Therefore,  when  reading  want  ads.  in  the  newspapers,  con- 
sider carefully  the  nature  of  the  promises  made.  If  they  are 
too  rosy,  too  high-flown,  have  nothing  to  do  with  that  ad.  or 
the  man  who  inserted  it.  You  may  depend  upon  it  that  it  is 
a  fake.  There  are  no  great  armies  of  persons  walking  about 
this  country  seeking  to  give  away  something  for  nothing. 


MILLIONAIRE  BANKER  AND 
BROKER  ARRESTED. 


Ramifications   of   the    Bucket   Shop    System    Revealed    by 
Detective  Clifton   R.  Wooldridge. 

George  T.  Sullivan,  the  millionaire  stock,  bond,  grain  and 
cotton  broker  at  159-161  LaSalle  street,  Chicago.  Illinois,  was 
arrested  May  23,  1906,  with  60  inmates.  Twelve  patrol  wagon 
loads  of  books,  records  and  papers  were  seized  and  carted  off  to 
the  Harrison   Street  Police   Station. 

Mr.  Sullivan  at  the  time  had  one  of  the  finest,  best-equipped 
offices  in  Chicago,  which  was  located  in  the  Traders'  Build- 
ing, opposite  the  •  Chicago  Board  of  Trade.  He  occupied  sev- 
eral floors,  and  they  were  very  elaborately  furnished.  Part  of 
the  third  floor  was  used  as  a  telegraph  office,  where  forty  men 
were  constantly  at  work  at  the  telegraph  keys:  His  private 
telegraph  wires  reached  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  ocean, 
and  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  British  possessions  in  the 
north. 

Mr.  Sullivan  paid  to  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Com- 
pany for  the  privilege  of  using  their  wires  and  services  $150,000 
per  year. 

Mr.  Sullivan  had  111  branch  offices,  located  in  the  principal 
cities  of  the  United  States.  Each  of  these  branch  offices 
evidently  was  equipped  with  all  the  paraphernalia  used  in  the 
bucketshop,  and  was  in  charge  of  one  of  Mr.  Sullivan's  repre- 
sentatives. 

Mr.  Sullivan  owned  the  entire  equipments  of  the  offices  and 
dictated  the  policy  and  work  to  each  manager,  which  had  to 
be  carried  out  to  tHe  letter.     The  following  is  a  list  of  the 


-.34  AIILLIONAIIM-:   1^AXKI:H  AI{KESTl-:i) 


OFFICES  OF  GEORGE  T.  SULLIVAN  AFTER  THE  RAID 


MILLIONAIRE  BAMKEK  ARRESTED  535 

branch  offices  and  locations  which  were  operated  by  Mr.   Sul- 
livan : 

List  of  Biianx'h  Offices. 

The  Sullivan  letterhead  gives  branch  offices  in  the  following 
cities:  Altoona,  Pa.,  Areola,  111,;  Aurora,  111.;  Avoca,  la.; 
Boston,  Mass. ;  Buda,  III. ;  Burlington,  la. ;  Cambridge,  111. ; 
Chicago,  111. ;  Cleveland,  0. ;  Davenport,  la. ;  Decatur,  111. ; 
Des  Moines,  la. ;  Detroit,  Mich. ;  Earlville,  111. ;  Effingham,  111. ; 
Elkhart,  Ind.;  Fairfield,  Ind. ;  Fostoria,  0.;  Fort  Madison, 
la. ;  Galesburg,  111. ;  Geneseo,  111. ;  Gibson  City,  111. ;  Goshen, 
Ind. ;  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. ;  Greenville,  111. ;  Grinnell,  la. ; 
Iowa  Cit}^  la. ;  Ivesdale,  111. ;  Johnstown,  Pa. ;  Kalamazoo, 
Mich. ;  Keokuk,  la. ;  Kewanee,  111. ;  Lancaster,  Pa. ;  Mansfield, 
III. ;  Mattoon,  111. ;  Michigan  City,  Ind. ;  Milwaukee,  Wis. ; 
Monmouth,  111. ;  Monticello,  111. ;  Morris,  111. ;  Mount  Pleasant, 
la. ;  New  Castle,  Pa. ;  New  York,  N.  Y. ;  Xiles,  0. ;  Omaha, 
Neb.;  Peoria,  111.;  Pittsburg,  Pa.;  Piano,  111.;  Princeton,  111.; 
Racine,  Wis. ;  Roberts,  111. ;  Saybrook,  111. ;  South  Bend,  Ind. ; 
Sheffield,  111.;  St.  Louis,  Mo. :  Tolouo,  111.;  Tiffin,  0.;  Toledo, 
0.;  Tuscola,   111.;   Waukegan.   111.:   Wyanet,   111. 

Exclusive  Offices  for  Lady  Speculators. 

Chicago — 225  Dearborn  street,  National  Life  Building,  16 
Imperial  Building,  51  Dexter  Building,  84  Adams  street. 
South  Chicago — 9138  Commercial   avenue. 

Mr.  Sullivan  had  his  correspondents  and  solicitors  in  all  of 
the  leading  stock,  bond,  grain  and  cotton  markets  of  most  of 
the  foreign  countries.  On  May  23,  1903,  he  was  doing  a  busi- 
ness of  from  $300,000  to  $500,000  per  year.  His  weekly  ex- 
penses ran  from  $15,000  to  $20,000. 

Mr.  Sullivan  advertised  extensively  in  the  leading  news- 
papers throughout  the  United  States  and  in  foreign  countries. 
Many  of  his  advertisements  would  cover  an  entire  page.  These 
advertisements   brought   him     many    inquiries    from    persons 


536  MTLLIOXAIKK  BAXlvKIJ  AHKESTED 


MILLIONAIRE  BANKER  ARRESTED  537 

either  through  curiosity  or  desire  to  invest,  saying  nothing  of 
the  cash  cnstomors  secured. 

Mr.  Sullivan  made  special  effort  to  buy  or  acquire  every 
mailing  list  to  be  found  in  the  entire  country  which  had  been 
used  by  other  fraudulent  and  get-rich-quick  concerns. 

It  is  said  that  he  had  secured  over  20,000  names,  which  he 
had  on  his  mailing  list.  These  men  Avere  bombarded  from 
day  to  day  with  his  literature  and  his  red-letters,  giving  the 
forecast  of  the  market.  These  letters  were  very  ingeniously 
gotten  up  by  himself  and  a  clairvoyant  fortune  teller  named 
Madame  Dunbar. 

His  methods  were  absolutely  devoid  of  even  a  pretense  of 
sound  business  ethics,  sensationalism  and  red  ink  being  his 
only  stock  in  trade. 

The  class  of  literature  and  telegrams  he  sent  broadcast  and 
regardless  of  expense  is  well  illustrated  by  the  following: 

Telegram    sent    January    1,    1903,   to   hundreds    of    persons 

throughout  the  country: 

"Am  going  to  run  three-cent  turn  in  May  wheat.  Let  me 
act  for  you  heavy.  I  will  take  loss  if  any.  Mail  three-cent 
margin.  George  T.  Sullivan." 

In  his  "Red  Letter"  of  May  18  he  makes  the  following  state- 
ment : 

"There  is  only  one  thong  about  this  wheat,  and  that  is,  a 
bull  market  is  at  hand ;  and  those  who  buy  cannot  lose,  and  if 
they  buy  on  my  advice  and  buy  quickly,  I  will'  pay  the  loss  if 
there  should  be  any." 

He  had  four  offices  in  Chicago  aside  from  his  main  office, 
these  being  designated  by  him  as  "Exclusive  Offices  for  Lady 
Speculators."  When  about  to  open  one  of  these  offices  he 
addressed  a  circular  letter  to  the  wives  of  many  prominent 
citizens  announcing  the  opening  of  same.  The  first  para- 
graph of  this  letter  reads  as  follows: 

"I  have  opened  superbly  appointed  offices  on  the  ground  floor 
of  the  National  Life  Building.  Room  120,  where  I  accept  ac- 
counts from  ladies  of  $100  or  upwards  for  marginal  speculation 
in   stocks,   bonds,   grain   and  cotton. 

"George  T.   Sullivan." 


538  MILLIONAIRE  BANKER  ARRESTED 

George  T.  Sullivan,  who  frequently  signs  himself  "Red  Let- 
ter Sullivan/'  is  by  occupation  a  telegraph  operator.  He  was 
first  heard  of  in  Boston  during  the  year  1899  and  the  early 
part  of  1900. 

On  the  "Oil  Exchange." 

On  May  17,  1900,  Sullivan  was  admitted  as  a  member  of 
the  Consolidated  Stock  and  Petroleum  Exchange  of  Xew  York 
and  under  the  firm  name  of  Sullivan  &  Sullivan  advertised 
extensively  and  had  a  system  of  wires  through  New  England. 
It  was  noticed  that  his  business  on  the  exchange  was  very 
small  and  upon  the  complaint  of  a  customer  his  trading  meth- 
ods were  investigated,  with  the  result  that  on  the  11th  of 
October  he  was  adjudged  guilty  of  obvious  fraud  or  false  pre- 
tenses and  expelled  from  membership  in  the  exchange.  He 
made  some  threats  of  a  suit  against  the  exchange,  but  the  firm 
of  Sullivan  &  Sullivan  failed  in  November  and  nothing  was 
heard  of  him  in  New  York.  His  customers  and  correspondents 
never  received  any  statements  of  their  accounts  and  Sullivan 
fled  the  state. 

He  seems  to  have  come  direct  to  Chicago,  arid  was  employed 
for  several  months  by  bucketshops  and  private-wire  houses  as 
a  telegraph  operator. 

In  the  fall  of  1901  he  associated  himself  with  E.  F.  Rowland, 
ostensibly  to  do  &  commission  business  in  stocks,  grain  and  cot- 
ton. His  methods  of  advertising  were  extremely  lurid,  and 
he  flooded  the  country  with  literature  and  letters  printed  in 
red  ink.  The  employee,  Sullivan,  soon  forced  Rowland  out 
of  business  and  continued  under  the  name  of  Rowland  until 
the  first  of  January,  1903,  when  by  degrees  he  had  worked  the 
name  of  Sullivan  into  prominence  and  the  name  of  Rowland 
had  gradually  been  eliminated  from  his  signs  and  literature. 
Reasons  Which  Caused  Investigation,  Raid  and  Arrest. 

The  raid  by  Detective  C.  R.  Wooldridge  on  the  Lincoln 
Commission   Company,  a  race  track  scheme,  in  the  Portland 


MILLIONAIEE  BANKER  ARRESTED  539 

Block,  115  Dearborn  street.  May  14,  1903,  developed  the  pe- 
culiar relations  between  this  concern  and  Sullivan,  and  the 
police  department  was  somewhat  astounded  to  find  among  the 
papers  of  the  Lincoln  Commission  Company  conclusive  evi- 
dence, in  the  shape  of  telegrams  and  correspondence,  proving 
that  Sullivan's  agents  on  his  private  wires  were  acting  as 
the  agents  of  the  turf  scheme,  and  that  the  employees  and 
private  wires  of  the  Sullivan  concern  were  used  in  common 
by  the  Lincoln  Commission  Company  with  the  consent  and 
approval  of  Sullivan. 

More  than  twenty  of  Sullivan's  agents  were  posting  in  his 
various  offices  the  tips  sent  out  by  the  Lincoln  Commission 
Company  and  accepting  bets  which  were  transmitted  over  Sul- 
livan's wires  to  be  placed  ostensibly  by  the  Lincoln  Commis- 
sion Company  on  the  horses  which  they  tipped  off  as  sure 
winners. 

The  mixing  up  of  a  turf  scheme  with  a  so-called  grain  and 
stock  business  was  something  new  to  the  police,  and  Detective 
Wooldridge  prosecuted  the  investigation,  and,  upon  becoming 
fully  acquainted  with  Sullivan's  methods,  concluded  that  he 
was  not  only  running  a  bucketshop,  but  was  interested  in  the 
turf  scheme  to  a  greater  extent. 

The  evidence  gathered  in  the  raid  on  the  Lincoln  Commis- 
sion Company  fully  established  the  fact.  The  Cook  County 
Grand  Jury  was  in  session  at  the  time  and  the  evidence  was 
presented  to  them.  Detective  Wooldridge  was  ordered  to  make 
a  full  investigation  and  report  to  them,  which  he  did. 

The  Grand  Jury  instructed  Wooldridge  to  lay  the  matter 
before  the  General  Superintendent  of  Police,  Francis  O'Neill, 
and  say:  "The  Grand  Jury  requested  immediate  action  should 
be  taken  by  the  police  to  enforce  the  state  law,  which  was 
being  violated." 

Wooldridge  submitted  the  case  to  Chief  O'lSTeill.  He  asked 
if  Wooldridge  had  secured  the  necessary  evidence  to  prove  that 


040  MILLIONAIRE  BANKEK  ARRESTED    ^ 

Sullivan  was  conducting  an  illegitimate  businet-s.     He  was  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative. 

Wooldridge's  Raid. 

On  the  morning  of  May  23,  1903,  ten  picked  deteciive.s 
were  secured  from  the  Detective  Bureau  to  accompany  Wool- 
dridge  in  the  raid  on  George  T.  Sullivan,  which  turned  out  to 
be  one  of  the  largest  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  sensational 
raids  and  arrests  that  had  occurred  in  Chicago  for  years. 

Sullivan  did  an  extensive  business.  The  offices  of  the  com- 
l»aiiy  which  were  raided  were  elaborately  furnished,  and  then- 
was  a  complete  assortment  of  tickers,  ))lackboards  and  likf 
paraphernalia.  At  the  time  of  the  raid  the  offices  were  crowded, 
tlie  operations  on  the  open  board  and  the  Board  of  Trade  be- 
ing remarkably  exciting.  The  officers  who  assisted  Wooldridgc 
in  the  raid  were  Detective  Sergeants  Howe,  Mullen,  Quinn. 
Qualoy.  ^[iskel,  McLaughlin,  Weber,  Flint  and  McLane. 

Offices  Filled  with  Patrons. 

It  was  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  the  largest  throng 
of  speculators  can  be  found  in  the  offices  at  259-261  LaSallc 
street,  opposite  the  Board  of  Trade,  that  Wooldridgc  and  his 
men  swooped  down  on  the  place  and  proclaimed  "every  one 
there  a  patron  of  a  bucketshop  and  under  arrest." 

The  wildest  excitement  prevailed.  Telegraph  operators, 
messenger  boys,  pit  men  and  persons  of  every  station  in  life 
were  caught.  Some  of  the  traders,  thinking  of  their  wives  and 
children,  pleaded  frantically  for  their  freedom.  Some  at- 
tempted to  force  tlu'ir  way  from  the  betting  rooms,  but.  meet- 
ing with  armed  resistance,  they  desisted. 

"I  don't  belong  here,"  said  one  man,  indignantly.  "I  onlv 
dropped  in  here  to  see  a  friend."     His  plea  was  unavailing. 

Anotlier  man,  attired  in  a  frock  coat  and  a  silk  hat,  attempted 
to  bribe  one  of  the  detectives.  "I  can't  have  it  get  out  that 
T  was  arrested,"  said  he.  "State  your  price  and  T  will  ;rive 
it  to  you  gladly." 


P«n)  b«»»  to  »(;»  t»t>ft.  or  •»in«l>od>  wlU  slip  bmmn  hUi  (iDg»r«. 


543  MILLION AIKE  BANKEK  AKKESTED 

The  only  i)ersons  allowed  to  escape  were  three  women  stenog- 
raphers, who  fled  through  a  rear  window. 

Advertising  matter,  private  correspondence,  telephones,  tick- 
«ers;  telegraph  instruments  and  everything  of  consequence  was 
seized  and  loaded  into  twelve  patrol  wagons  and  taken  to  the 
Harrison  Street  Police  Station. 

Four  hundred  and  twenty  telegraph  wires  were  cut  which 
connected  Sullivan's  bucketshops  in  Chicago  and  through  the 
country.  It  took  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  two 
weeks  to  get  the  wires  in  working  order. 

Xaales  of  Pfjsoneus  Akkesteu. 

At  the  Harrison  Street  Police  Station  those  arrested  in  the 
raid  gave  their  names  as  follows: 

G.  T.  Sullivan,  W.  D.  Hart,  John  Conway,  L.  J.  Hotf, 
Charles  Barth,  William  Wilson,  E.  E.  Matwell,  J.  A.  Hoga- 
dorn,  E.  L.  Wilson,  T.  X.  Lamb,  E.  J.  Brennan,  Kalph  Cun- 
ningham, Fred  Boiler,  John  Whitmar,  E.  F.  Black,  John  A. 
IManley,  Ernest  Gerard,  John  Lawson,  J.  K.  West,  George 
Eodger,  Henry  Miller,  J.  A.  Crandall,  Y.  E.  Pearson,  George 
Wilson,  Harry  Van  Camp,  George  T.  Kelly,  J.  P.  Morgan, 
Joseph  Cohen,  Butler  Coleman,  Arthur  McLane,  George  Fred- 
erick, A.  L.  Kramer,  ]M.  J.  Franklin,  Edward  O'Connell,  Oren 
Mills,  W.  H.  Kelley,  0.  S.  Eeed,  F.  Foley,  I.  J.  Kennedy, 
Eobert  Delaney,  Joseph  Bowers,  John  Black,  L.  Frederick,  B. 
C.  Cover,  George  Johnson,  G.  Weightman,  H.  C.  Boder,  Samuel 
E.  Brown,  Joseph  Smith,  C.  E.  Tracy,  W.  Jones,  J.  W.  Ken- 
nedy, John  P.  Garrison,  Al.  Dewes,  Elmer  C.  Huntley,  T.  A. 
Duey. 

Crowd  Gathers. 

The  fact  that  a  raid  was  being  made  became  kno^\^l  outside 
the  offices  and  in  a  short  time  several  thousand  persons  gathered. 
Crowds  peered  through  the  windows  and  doors.  The  Chicago 
Open  Board  of  Trade  is  directly  across  the  alley  in  the  rear 
of  Sullivan's  offices,  and  business  there  was  at  a  standstill  for 


MlLLiUiNAliiE  BAiNKER  AKRESTEi)  543 

a  time.  The  traders  gathered  about  Sullivan's  offices  and  re- 
mained until  the  last  prisoner  had  been  taken  away  in  the 
patrol  wagon. 

Sullivan  himself  was  in  his  private  office  when  the  raid  was 
made.  Wooldridge  broke  open  the  door  and  faced  the  man  at 
the  desk. 

"You  are  under  arrest,  Mr.  Sullivan/'  said  the  detective. 
Sullivan  grew  pale  and  then  reached  his  hand  to  the  telegraph 
instrument  which  stood  on  the  table.     He  started  to  work  it. 

"Stop  that!"  ordered  Wooldridge.  But  Sullivan  continued. 
Wooldridge  made  a  leap  for  the  trader  and  forced  him  away 
from  the  instrument.  But  the  trader  was  not  to  be  thwarted. 
He  reached  over  the  detective's  shoulder,  and  again  the  click 
began.  Wooldridge  then  seized  the  instrument  and  hurled  it 
into  the  desk. 

"Cut  all  telephone  and  telegraph  wires,"  was  the  order  given 
by  Wooldridge,  and  the  frenzied  occupants  of  the  place  were 
thrown  into  terror.  There  was  a  mad  rush  for  the  door,  but 
the  detectives  stood  in  the  way.  Every  inducement  was  of- 
fered the  policemen,  but  efforts  failed. 

Then  Sullivan  claimed  that  he  had  an  injunction  issued  by 
Judge  Elbridge  Hanecy  forbidding  the  police  from  raiding  his 
place. 

"I  have  an  injunction  from  Judge  Hanecy  to  stop  you !" 
yelled  Sullivan.  "ShoAv  me  the  injunction,  then,"  replied 
Wooldridge,  "and  I  will  obey  it.  If  not,  I  am  an  officer  of  the 
court  and  have  warrants  here  charging  you  with  keeping  a 
bucketshop  and  gambling  house." 

The  injunction  which  Sullivan  claimed  to  have  was  found 

by  the  police  in  one  of  his  drawers  in  blank  form,  without  any 

signature,   together   with    the   following  letter   to   one   of  his 

managers : 

May    19,    1903. 
Mr.  Charles  A.  Warren. 

New  York. 
Dear   Mr.   Warren : 

Your  friend  Wooldridge  was   in   all   day   Monday.     We  had 


544  MILLION AiKE  IL^XKEK  AHKESTED    . 

four  detectives  here  all  day  investigating  my  guarantee  plan, 
and  they  showed  up  again  today  and  held  several  conversa- 
tions with  Miss  Lorentzen  before  we  realized  who  they  were. 
It   looks   like   they   were    trying   to   make   a   case. 

In  looking  up  the  injunction  papers,  find  you  neglected  to 
change  them  to  read  The  George  T.  Sullivan  Company  and 
The  George  T.  Sullivan  Elevator  &  Grain  Co.  I  took  them 
to  Morris  and  he  rehearsed  them,  patched  them,  etc..  and  they 
are  now   ready   to  play   ball   with. 

Morris  is  very  busy  and  it  looks  as  if  we  might  need  someone 
else   on   the  scene   of  action   to  watch   things. 

Hope  you  arrived  O.  K..  and  with  best  wishes,  I  remain. 
Yours  very  truly, 

George  T.  Sullh'an. 

However,  it  was  not  until  11  o'clock  and  more  than  an  hour 
after  the  raid  had  been  made  that  Attorney  Edwiird  Morris 
filed  the  injunction  bill  in  the  Circuit  Court. 

The  injunction  was  finally  issued  by  Judge  Abner  Smith  at 
12:30  o'clock.  It  restrained  Chief  O'Neill  and  Detectives 
Hertz  and  Wooldridge  from  interfering  in  any  way  with  the 
property  contained  in  the  offices  occupied  by  the  concern  or 
cutting  the  telegraph  wires  leading  to  them.  It  is  represented 
in  the  bill  that  the  company  has  offices  at  259  LaSalle  street. 
Bush  Temple  of  Music,  60  LaSalle  street,  16  Imperial  Build- 
ing and  84  Adams  street;  but  the  damage  had  already  been 
done. 

Sullivan  was  practically  out  of  business,  and  was  being  bom- 
barded and  seized  by  a  horde  of  infuriated  patrons  who  de- 
manded their  money,  entrusted  to  him  to  invest.  Sullivan 
could  not  retuni  the  money,  as  he  had  spent  it  and  was 
bankrupt. 

"Red  Letter"  Well  Kxown. 

Patrons    Told    They    Would    Xot   Lose    If    Advice    Was 

follo"wed. 

In  Sullivan's  office  the  detectives  found  great  quantities  of 
advertising  matter.  This  matter  was  thoroughly  gone  over  in 
the  search  for  evidence  against  the  grain  and  stock  broker. 
Pile  after  pile  of  Sullivan's  "red  letter"  circulars  were  found. 

Sullivan's  "red  letter"  was  issued  daily,  and  printed  iu  red 


AULLlONAiiiE  BANKEK  AHRESTEl)  545 

ink.  The  circulars  were  written  in  a  manner  characteristic 
of  all  the  advertisements,  printed  matter  and  correspondence 
to  patrons. 

In  telegrams  to  patrons  and  the  "red  letters"  Sullivan  often 
made  the  proposition  that  he  would  make  good  all  loss  sus- 
tained by  patrons  while  they  were  making  purchases  upon  his 
advice. 

Tlie  detectives  were  somewhat  surprised  when  they  saw  at 
the  top  of  the  circular  in  hold,  red  type  that  "four  exclusive 
offices  for  lady  speculators"  were  being  operated  in  Chicago, 
one  in  South  Chicago  and  one  in  St.  Louis.  The  addresses 
given  for  the  Chicago  offices  were  235  Dearborn  street,  159 
LaSalle  street,  260  Clark  street  and  84  Adams  street.  Women 
speculators  of  South  Chicago  had  the  opportunity  of  making 
their  purchases  at  9138  Commercial  avenue. 

Wooldridge  was  asked  by  the  press  what  justification  he 
had  in  making  the  raids,  and  by  whose  orders  they  were  made. 
He  said  that  he  raided  the  Lincoln  Commission  Company  at 
115  Dearborn  street,  May  14,  1903,  which  was  conducting  a 
turf  investment  company,  and  found  that  George  T.  Sullivan 
was  operating  the  same  in  connection  with  his  bucketshop; 
that  George  T.  Sullivan  and  60  inmates  were  arrested,  and 
eleven  wagon  loads  of  books,  letters,  papers  and  records  taken 
to  the  Harrison  Street  Police  Station.  Wooldridge  said  that 
he  had  evidence  to  indict  them  on  50  charges,  and  he  intended 
to  deliver  the  goods,  and  he  would  not  be  pulled  off  by  any 
man  in  the  State  of  Illinois. 

Wooldridge  immediately  took  steps  to  get  his  evidence  in 
shape.  He  called  on  John  Hill,  Jr.,  who  had  charge  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  quotations  and  who  was  an  expert  on  bucket- 
shop  methods. 

•  Wooldridge,  Hill  and  two  clerks  went  to  work  gathering 
evidence  for  the  trial;  eleven  wagon  loads  of  books,  papers, 
letters  and  records  had  to  be  gone  through,  which  was  done 
in  the  most  careful,  systematic  manner. 


d4(>         millionaire  banker  arrested 

They  worked  from  2  p.  m.  until  12  o'clock  and  the  evidenro 
gathered  was  placed  in  a  vault. 

After  they  had  secured  something  to  eat  in  a  nearhy  restau- 
rant and  taken  two  hours'  sleep,  they  resumed  their  work, 
which  was  carried  on  until  7  o'clock  Sunday  morning.  This 
evidence  which  was  secured  was  locked  up  in  another  vault 
for  safe  keeping.  After  they  had  eaten  their  breakfast  they 
resumed  work  again  and  worked  until  6  p.  m.  This  evidence 
gathered  was  placed  in  another  vault.  After  they  had  eaten 
their  supper  they  resumed  work  again  and  worked  until  1 
o'clock  Sunday  night,  when  they  succeeded  in  going  through 
every  scrap  of  paper  which  was  seized  in  the  raid.  This  evi- 
dence gathered  was  placed  in  another  vault. 

The  placing  of  this  evidence  in  different  vaults  was  for  the 
purpose  of  preventing  George  T.  Sullivan  or  any  of  his  friends 
from  securing  it  on  a  writ  of  replevin. 

Wooldridge  slept  until  5  o'clock,  then  went  to  the  residence 
of  Charles  S.  Deneen,  State's  Attorney.  Arriving  at  his  house 
and  finding  that  he  had  not  arisen  from  bed,  Wooldridge 
pulled  up  a  settee  which  he  found  on  the  veranda  and  placed  it 
in  front  of  his  door  where  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to 
get  out  of  his  house  without  first  awaking  Wooldridge. 

Wooldridge  laid  down  and  went  fast  asleep  and  was  found 
there  when  State's  Attorney  Deneen  was  making  his  departure 
next  morning  for  his  office.  Wooldridge,  upon  being  aroused 
from  his  sleep,  told  Mr.  Deneen  of  the  raid  made  and  the 
evidence  gathered  and  showed  him  some  10  or  15  telegrams  from 
reputable  Board  of  Trade  men  who  were  worth  over  $20,000,000 
collectively.    The  substance  of  the  telegrams  was  as  follows: 

"Officer  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge:  We  are  informed  that  you 
raided  George  T.  Sullivan's  bucketsliop.  You  have  done  your 
duty   and  been  criticised   and   assailed  for  doing  it.      My  name 

is    and    my    attorneys    name 

is   and  we  are  at  your  service 

night  or  day,   without   any  expense  to   you." 

Mr.  Deneen  asked  Wooldridge  how  soon  he  would  be  ready 


MILLIONAIRE  BANKER  ARRESTED  547 

to  present  his  evidence  to  the  Grand  Jury.  Wooldridge  replied 
that  he  had  two  cases  already  prepared  before  he  made  the 
raid  and  would  be  ready  in  six  hours  with  a  number  of  addi- 
tional cases. 

Mr.  Deneen  told  Wooldridge  to  accompany  him  to  his  office, 
which  was  done.  He  called  Assistant  State's  Attorneys  Albert 
C.  Barnes,  F.  L.  Barnett  and  Howard  0.  Sprogle  and  in- 
structed them  to  assist  Wooldridge  in  preparing  the  cases  for 
the  Grand  Jury  and  give  him  a  clean  road  just  the  minute  he 
was  ready.  They  were  further  instructed  to  give  him  all  the 
assistance  and  advice  he  should  need  in  the  matter. 

The  special  complaints  were  drawn,  the  telegraph  wires  be- 
came busy  and  at  10  o'clock  Wooldridge  and  witnesses  went 
before  the  Grand  Jury  and  George  T.  Sullivan  was  indicted  for 
keeping  a  bucketshop  and  common  gaming  house. 

George  T.  Sullivan  was  also  active  from  Saturday  imtil 
Monday  morning.  He  had  prepared  writs  of  replevin  and 
Avarrants  for  larceny  for  Wooldridge  and  officers  who  were  with 
him.  ^ 

Wooldridge  was  called  up  over  the  telephone  by  Sullivan's 
friends  and  offered  a  bribe  of  $5,000  if  he  would  release  and 
turn  over  the  books,  letters  and  records  which  were  seized  in 
the  raid,  so  Sullivan  could  resume  business.  This  offer  was 
refused  by  Wooldridge  and  the  matter  reported  to  the  State's 
Attorney. 

Sullivan  then  resorted  to  sending  various  friends  and  power- 
ful politicians  for  the  paraphernalia  seized.  Still  Wooldridge 
turned  a  deaf  ear  to  their  requests  and  entreaties. 

Wooldridge  was  a  very  busy  man  at  the  County  Court  Build- 
ing on  Monday,  o  Before  the  George  T.  Sullivan  bucketshop 
raid  and  the  indictment  before  the  Grand  Jury,  Wooldridge 
had  the  case  of  J.  J.  Jacobs,  manager  of  the  Montana  Mining, 
Loan  &  Investment  Company,  which  was  a  lottery,  on  trial 
before  Judge  Chetlain. 

While  in  the  courtroom  he  was  informed  by  officers  that  they 


548  MILLIONAIKE  V.AXKEH  AIJRESTED 

had  a  writ  of  replevin  for  the  goods  seized  in  Sullivan's  biiekel- 
sliop;  that  they  also  held  warrants  for  Wooldridge  and  the 
officers  who  were  with  him,  but  if  he  would  surrender  the  goods 
seized  they  declared  the  warrants  would  not  be  served  and 
there  would  be  no  trouble. 

Wooldridge  called  on  the  State's  Attorney  and  informed  him 
of  tlie  demand  made  upon  him.  State's  Attorney  Deneen 
called  the  officers  in  his  office  and  told  them  ihat  Wooldridge 
was  there  in  attendance  in  the  court  and  he  would  not  permit 
the  warrants  to  be  served  on  him  until  after  court  adjourned. 
Further,  he  had  instructed  Wooldridge  not  to  turn  over  any 
of  the  property. 

Sullivan  during  the  meantime  had  learned  that  there  was 
an  indictment  against  him  by  the  Grand  Jury  and  withdrew 
the  order  for  serving  of  the  warrants.  He  Avas  indicted,  con- 
victed and  paid  a  $500  fine. 

After  the  police  had  secured  the  evidence,  his  l)Ooks,  letters 
and  records  were  returned  to  him.  He  tried  to  start  up  in 
business  again;  also  to  get  other  parties  interested  with  him 
who  had  money,  but  in  this  he  failed.  He  was  forced  to 
refund  $150,000  to  his  patrons  who  had  advanced  money  to 
him  to  speculate  in  grain  and  stock.  He  expected  financial 
assistance  and  hoped  to  resume  business,  but  nothing  ma- 
terialized. 

There  were  thousands  of  other  creditors  throughout  tli(^ 
country  who  were  not  so  fortunate  in  obtaining  a  settlement. 
These  creditors  combined  and  forced  him  into  bankruptcy. 

He  was  then  cited  in  the  United  States  Court  for  violating 
a   federal    injunction. 

He  quietly  folded  his  tent  at  night  and  left  Oliicago  with- 
out leaving  his  address.  He  was  next  heard  of  in  England 
six  months  later.  All  traces  of  him  were  lost  until,  in  August. 
1907,  at  Pittsburg.  Vn..  ho  was  arrested  for  running  a  bucket- 
shop. 

OoorL'"''  T.   Sullivan,  of  Cronrs[o  T.   Snllivan   (!(•   (^o..  brokers. 


MILLION  AIKE  BxVNKEK  AKEESTED  o4M 

with  offices  in  the  Bijou  Building,  Pittsburg,  and  was  ar- 
raigned before  Magistrate  F.  J.  Brady  at  Central  Police  Sta- 
tion, charged  with  a  misdemeanor  and  violating  a  city  ordi- 
nance. 

Sullivan  Has  Eecord. 

The  misdemeanor  was  based  on  Sullivan's  doing  business 
without  being  properly  registered  at  Harrisburg,  and  he  was 
charged  with  violating  a  city  ordinance  for  running  a  brok- 
erage office  without  taking  out  a  city  license.  He  was  held  for 
court  in  $1,000  bail  on  the  misdemeanor  charge  and  was  fino.d 
$35  on  the  other. 

George  T.  Sullivan,  the  Napoleon  of  frenzied  finance,  cut 
a  large  figure  in  Chicago,  From  a  telegraph  operator  in  the 
pool  rooms  and  bucketshops  at  a  salary  of  $18  per  week,  he  ac- 
quired enough  in  the  short  space  of  two  years  to  owai  and 
operate  the  largest  bucketshop  in  the  United  States. 

He  soared  high  in  the  money  circles,  but  at  last  was  brought 
crashing  to  the  earth,  a  financial  wreck.  He  was  convicted 
of  keeping  a  bucketshop  and  gambling  house.  He  went  bank- 
rupt, hounded  to  death  by  his  creditors,  many  of  whom  he 
had  wrecked. 

He  was  cited  to  appear  in  the  United  States  Court  for  vio- 
lating an  injunction,  and  warrants  had  been  sworn  out  by  the 
postal  authorities  for  using  the  mails  to  defraud  the  public. 

He  took  his  freight  from  Chicago  to  new  fields  of  pasture. 
Wine,  women  and  high  financing  brought  his  downfall. 


DORA  McDonald. 


DORA  McDonald. 


MILLION-DOLLAR  GAMBLER'S  WIFE 

ARRESTED  FOR  MURDER. 

Webster  Guerin  Murdered  February  21,  igo6 — The  Arrest 

of  Dora  McDonald  for  the  Murder  by  Detective 

Clifton  R.  Wooldridge  and  J.  F.  Daugherty 

a  Few  Minutes  After  the  Tragedy. 

Spectacular  Case — Battle  Bitterly   Waged. 

Important     Dates    in     Mrs.    McDonald's     Life    Tragedy. 
Important  dates  in  the  trial  of  Mrs.   Dora  McDonald: 

February  21,  1907 — Webster  Guerin  shot  to  death  in 
room  703,  Omaha  Building,  where  he  was  closeted  with 
Mrs.  Dora  McDonald. 

March  5,  1907 — The  Coroner's  jury  returned  an  open 
verdict,  failing  to  find  Mrs.  McDonald  responsible  for 
Guerin's  death. 

March  30,  1907 — Mrs.  McDonald  released  from  the 
County  Jail  under  bonds  of  $50,000. 

August  9,  1907 — Michael  McDonald  died,  reconciled  to 
his  first  wife  through  the  efforts  of  the  church. 

August  12,  1907 — "Mike"  McDonald's  funeral,  one  of 
the  largest  ever  known,  held. 

January  20,  1908 — Mrs.  McDonald  placed  on  trial  before 
Judge  Brentano. 

January   25,   1908 — Jury  completed  and  sworn. 

February  11,  1908 — The  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  not 
guilty. 


553      DORA  McDOXALD.  THE  MILLIOX-DOLLAK 


Webster  S.  Guevin 
Assistant    State's    Attorneys 
Edwin   S.    Day    and 
William    A.    Rittenhouso 
Sam    Berkley 


Judge    Theodore    Kreutano 

Detective   Clifton    K.    VVooldridge 


James  Hamilton  I^ewis 
and  P.  H.  O'Donnell 
^riohnol   r.   McDonald 


Uora    McDonald 


GAMBLEK'S  WIFE   AKKESTED  FOJi  MUKDEK    553 

The  murder  of  Webster  Guerin  occurred  on  the  morning 
of  February  21,  190fi.  at  his  office,  room  703  Omaha  Building, 
134  Van  Bur^n  street. 

Detectives  Clifton  K.  Wooklridge  and  J.  P.  Daugherty  were 
on  their  way  to  see  Guerin  about  a  complaint  made  against 
him  when  they  ]'an  into  the  shooting.  They  had  been  there 
before,  but  wej-e  not  able  to  find  the  man.  Under  the  name 
of  Fisher,  Guerin  had  another  office  in  the  same  building.  The 
.omplaint  was  from  Mrs.  G.  Boynton,  903  East  Fifty-fifth 
street,  who  said  she  had  been  forced  into  buying  a  picture 
frame  through  the  promise  of  the  managers  of  the  Harrison 
Art  Studio  that  they  would  enlarge  the  picture  free  of  charge. 
.  Upon  reaching  the  building  Detectives  Wooldridge  and 
Daugherty  heard  a  pistol  shot  ring  out  which  sounded  as  if 
coming  from  the  upper  story  of  the  building.  Springing  into 
the  elevator,  they  soon  reached  the  top  floor,  where  they  were 
directed  to  room  703,  where  a  number  of  the  tenants  of  the 
building  had  already  gathered.  Stretched  upon  the  floor  lay 
the  body  of  Webster  Guerin  with  the  blood  oozing  from  his 
mouth  and  a  bullet  wound  from  a  32-caliber  revolver  on  the 
left  side,  just  above  the  heart :  the  bullet  had  passed  through 
his  lungs  and  caused  a  hemorrhage ;  from  his  mouth  came 
nearly  one-half  gallon  of  blood. 

When  Wooldridge  and  Daugherty  reached  the  side  of  Guerin 
he  was  past  human  aid. 

Xo  Witnesses  of  Killing. 

There  were  no  witnesses  of  the  killing  of  Guerin.  He  was 
in  his  office  with  Mrs.  Dora  McDonald.  Several  persons  heard  a 
shot;,  and  a  moment  later  the  glass  door  was  broken  and  the 
head  of  Mrs.  McDonald  came  out. 

The  condition  of  the  studio,  in  room  703  of  the  Omaha 
Building,  shows  that  a  violent  quarrel  took  place  between 
Guerin  and  Mrs.  McDonald.  Mrs.  McDonald  left  her  resi- 
dence  shortly   after  breakfast.      She   arrived   at  the  building 


554     DOEA  McDOXALD,  THE  MILLION-DOLLAK 


Persons  and  Places   Involved  in  the  Killing 

of  Crayon  Artist   Guerm  by   Mrs.  "Mike"  McDonald. 


about  11:45  o'clock.  Gueriu  expected  her,  for  he  told  his 
office  boy,  Thomas  Hanson,  who  lives  at  265  West  Ohio  street, 
to  leave  the  room  and  not  come  back  until  1  o'clock.  Before 
the  boy  left  the  room  Mrs.  ^IcDonald  entered  and  the  two  im- 
niv^diately  began  quarreling,  it  is  said.  Guerin  shouted  to 
Hanson  to  leave  and  nothing  more  was  heard  until  the  shooting 
at  11:50  o'clock. 


GAMBLEE'S  WIFE  AlUiESTED  FOE  MURDER   555 

Lorenzo  Blasi,  who  lives  at  73  West  Ohio  street,  and  who  is 
employed  in  room  608  of  the  same  building,  heard  the  shot  and 
the  sound  of  breaking  glass.  He  was  in  the  corridor  on  the 
seventh  floor.  He  hurried  to  the  scene  and  on  the  way  heard 
the  glass  breaking  again  and  a  woman  screaming:  "He  shot 
himself !     He  shot  himself !" 

Woman  Cut  by  Broken  Glass. 

When  Blasi  reached  the  studio  he  found  Mrs.  McDonald  with 
her  head  partly  thrust  through  the  broken  glass.  Her  face 
was  bleeding  from  cuts.  In  her  hand  she  held  a  revolver.  She 
was  trying  to  break  more  of  the  glass  with  her  revolver  and 
escape. 

A  moment  later  Eric  Allert  and  Charles  B.  Williams,  who 
work  across  the  corridor,  rushed  out  to  Blasi's  aid. 

Mrs.  McDonald  was  pulled  through  the  door  and  the  revolver 
was  secured.  In  the  office,  men  found  Guerin  lying  dead  in 
the  room  leading  off  from  the  main  part  of  the  office. 

A  torn  picture  and  some  hatpins  were  on  the  floor.  There 
were  finger  marks  on  her  throat. 

When  Dora  ]\IcDonald  recovered  consciousness  she  shrieked : 
''Oh,  God!     Get  a  doctor;  he  has  shot  himself." 

AVhere  the  revolver  may  have  been  at  that  time  it  was  dif- 
ficult to  say.  Several  witnesses  said  that  it  was  lying  at  the 
right  side  of  Guerin,  who  was  dying.  Others  said  that  the 
woman  held  it  in  her  hand, -waving  it  above  her  head  as  she 
screamed  out:     "He  has  shot  himself." 

Who  this  strong,  handsomely  garbed  woman  was  who  had 
either  witnessed  a  suicide,  committed  a  murder  or  participated 
in  an  accident  no  one  knew,  but  she  was  hurried  off  to  the 
police  station  by  Detective  Wooldridge. 

"Daddy,  oh,  daddy,  forgive  me !"  she  kept  screaming  out. 
She  was  recognized,  however,  and  it  was  found  that  "Daddy" 
could  be  none  other  than  the  big  gambler  and  political  boss, 
Mike  McDonald.    So  they  sent  for  Mike,  and  he  gathered  into 


556    DOHA  McDonald,  the  million -dollak 

his  arms  the  woman  who  in  that  moment  broke  his  heart  and 
sent  him  to  his  grave  in  sorrow. 

An  inquest  was  begun  before  Coroner  Peter  J.  Hoffman  in 
the  Harrison  Street  Station  on  March  1,  1906.  After  five 
days  an  open  verdict  was  returned,  in  which  the  jurors  de- 
clared themselves  unable  to  determine  the  cause  .of  the  death 
of  Guerin. 

The  Coroner's  jury  consisted  of  the  following  named  persons : 

Joseph  Willis,  43  Cass  street ;  Frank  0.  Borhyar,  6142  Mad- 
ison avenue;  William  Merker,  263  Seminary  avenue;  William 
C.  Hollens,  6418  Ehodes  avenue;  David  A.  Smith,  3843  Cali- 
fornia avenue;  George  F.  Cram,  4166  Drexel  boulevard. 

On  March  16,  Municipal  Judge  Kewcomer  went  to  the  jail 
hospital,  where  Dora  McDonald,  still  in  bed,  was  formally  ar- 
raigned and  held  on  a  charge  of  murder.  Two  weeks  later 
she  was  indicted  by  the  Grand  Jury. 

All  of  the  evidence  so  gathered  Avas  embodied  in  the  report 
of  the  Coroner,  and  the  names  of  the  witnesses  were  thereto 
attached,  all  of  which  were  made  public  at  the  time.  The 
State  and  the  defense  secured  a  copy  of  the  same. 

Mystery    Too   Much   for   Coroner. 

x\ll  the  additional  evidence  and  the  preparation  of  the  case 
was  made  by  the  State's  attorneys,  William  H.  Eittenhouse. 
Edwin  S.  Day,  Frank  Comerford,  City  Police  Attorney,  ai'<l 
other  officers.  All  the  names  of  new  witnesses  (some  twelve 
or  fifteen  in  number)  and  the  evidence  were  concealed  from 
Detective  Wooldridge,  and  at  no  time  was  he  present,  or  tli.l 
he  hear  to  what  the  witnesses  would  testify.  Therefore,  lie 
had  no  knowledge  of  any  new  facts  when  the  case  was  called 
for  trial. 

The  mystery  of  Guerin's  death  proved  too  much  for  a  Cor- 
oner's jury.  More  than  two  weeks  after  the  artist  was  shiin 
the  Coroner's  panel  returned  an  open  verdict.  Tl  merely 
found  that  Guerin  had  died  from  a  bullet  wound  in  ;i  manner 


GAMBLEKVS  WIFE  ARRESTED  FOR  MURDER    557 

which  tlie  jury  was  unable  to  determine.  This  same  verdict 
Colonel  Lewis  sought  to  introduce  at  the  trial  in  Judge  Bren- 
tano's  court.  Such  a  move  was  new  in  criminal  annals,  and 
it  was  some  time  before  the  court  decided  that  it  should  he 
ruled  out. 

Mrs.  McDonald  was  meantime  transferred  to  the  County 
Jail  from  the  Harrison  Street  Station.  She  was  broken  in 
health  and  a  confirmed  invalid.  Two  persons,  however,  were 
faithful  to  her,  Mike  McDonald  and  Miss  Amanda  Beck,  her 
nurse. 

Friends  Get  Busy  Quickly. 

A  few  hours  after  the  tragedy  of  Webster  Guerin  all  the 
influences  and  machinery  at  the  command  of  Mike  McDonald 
were  brought  to  bear  to  save  the  life  of  Dora  McDonald.  A.  S. 
Trude,  one  of  the  greatest  criminal  attorneys  in  Chicago,  was 
employed,  besides  several  other  noted  lawyers,  to  defend  Dora 
McDonald.  IMiko  McDonald's  political  friends  soon  became 
active.  Everything  was  done  to  gather  evidence  in  Dora  Mc- 
Donald's case,  and  everything  was  done  that  could  be  done  to 
suppress  any  evidence  that  was  injurious  to  her. 

There  was  one  witness  who  was  greatly  feared,  and  that 
was  Detective  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge,  who  made  the  arrest. 

Several  days  after  the  shooting  A.  S.  Trude,  Mike  McDon- 
ald's attorney,  met  Wooldridge  in  the  Criminal  Court  and 
shook  hands  with  him.  He  said  that  he  was  very  glad  that 
Wooldridge  was  interested  in  the  case  for  one  reason,  for  he 
knew  he  Avould  get  a  square  deal.  He  also  stated  that  there 
wd:s  another  reason  why  he  was  sorry  that  Wooldridge  was  in 
the*  case,  because  he  had  too  many  eyes  and  too  many  feet  to  be 
on"  the  opposite  side  of  any  case  in  which  he  (Trude)  was 
interested.  This  view  was  shared  by  Mike  McDonald  and  his 
friends,  who  became  active  to  get  Wooldridge  out  of  the  way. 

Mike  McDonald  first  paid  a  visit  to  John  M.  Collins,  then 
General  Superintendent  of  Police,  and  one  of  his  warm  per- 


508      DOiiA  McJJONALl},  THE  MlLLiON-DOLLAK 

soiial  friends,  and  Frank  Comerford,  City  Police  Attorney; 
What  occurred  in  that  office  will  never  be  known,  unless  Collins 
chooses  to  make  a  statement,  as  McDonald  has  since  died. 

Detective  Wooldridge  was  called  to  the  office  of  John  M. 
Collins,  General  Superintendent  of  Police,  and  told  not  to 
talk  to  any  newspaper  men  or  anyone  else  about  the  McDonald 
case.  He  was  further  told  not  to  make  himself  too  officious, 
and  not  to  be  too  active  in  the  case. 

Several  days  later  he  was  again  called  to  Chief  Collins'  office 
and  told  that  Frank  Comerford,  then  acting  as  City  Police 
Attorney,  and  a  warm  friend  of  Mike  McDonald's,  was  to 
take  charge  of  the  case,  so  that  he  need  not  bother  himself 
further  with  the  matter. 

Mr.  Comerford  became  very  active,  securing  the  names  of 
all  the  witnesses  and  all  evidence  to  which  they  would  testify, 
together  with  otlier  facts.  All  this  matter  eventually  found 
its  way  into  tlio  hands  of  the  defense  long  before  the  trial. 

Mike  McDonald  and  his  friends  thought  that  Wooldridge 
would  become  active  again  in  the  case.  Therefore  Mike  pro- 
ceeded to  get  busy  himself.  No  one  seems  to  know  the  ins  and 
outs  of  the  case,  Ijut  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact  that  soon  after 
the  election  of  April,  1907,  Wooldridge  was  transferred  from 
the  office  of  the  General  Superintendent  of  Police,  where  he 
had  served  since  1889,  to  the  Cottage  Grove  Avenue  Station. 
No  reason  was  assigned  for  this  transfer. 

Gueein's  Life  Story. 

Webster  Guerin,  who  lived  at  655  West  Harrison  street,^»\vas 
well  known  on  the  West  Side,  where  he  was  born  thirty  years 
ago.  He  kept  a  haberdashery  on  West  Madison  street  i' iew 
years  before  the  murder,  but  left  it  to  go  to  California.  On 
his  return  he  went  into  the  picture  business.  Guerin  was  a 
tall,  splendid-looking  follow  more  than  six  feet  in  height. 

Gnorin  was  known  at  the  offices  in  the  Omaha  Building  as 


GAMBLER'S  WIFE  ARRESTED  FOR  MURDER   559 

Louis  Fisher,  and  it  was  under  that  name  that  he  operated  the 
Harrison  Art  Compan}^ 

Dora  McDonald  Divorced  Wife  of  "Sam"  Barclay. 

Dora  McDonald,  35  years  old,  was  the  divorced  wife  of  "Sam" 
Barclay,  a  former  professional  ball  player  and  Chicago  saloon- 
keeper. They  had  one  son,  Harold  Barclay,  who  was  later 
legally  adopted  by  "Mike"  McDonald,  and  who  was  at  school 
in  Florida  at  the  time  of  the  murder.     He  was  15  years  old. 

She  had  separated  from  Barclay  shortly  prior  to  her  divorce 
and  had  been  on  the  stage  for  a  short  time  under  the  name 
of  Mme.  Alberta.  She  was  married  to  Mike  McDonald  a  week 
after  her  divorce  and  was  taken  by  him  to  his  home  at  Harrison 
street  and  Ashland  avenue. 

Beauty  of  West   Side. 

Dora  ]\IcDonald  was  one  of  the  beauties  of  the  West  Side 
in  her  day,  and  many  admirers  hovered  about  her  threshold. 
The  lights  of  the  midnight  hours  charmed  her  then,  and  she 
dashed  off  to  marry  Sam  Barclay,  a  professional  baseball 
player. 

Into  that  home  came  Michael  Cassius  McDonald,  He  was 
a  gambler  and  a  politician  and  a  man  of  great  wealth. 

For  the  second  time  his  wife  had  left  him ;  run  away,  people 
said,  with  a  man  who  had  been  a  guest  at  their  home. 

Mike  was  lonesome.  He  saw  the  bride  of  Sam  Barclay  and 
loved  her.  He  dined  with  her,  and  perhaps  he  paid  for  her 
divorce  trial.  At  least  she  separated  from  Barclay  and  when 
Mike  went  a-wooing  again  he  won  this  pretty  woman. 

In  a  west  side  home  of  some  pretensions  Mike  established 
his  new  wife.  He  thought  so  much  of  her  that  he  sent  his 
sons  away  when  she  'could  not  agree  with  them.  He  gave  her! 
money  and. finery  and  servants  and  carriages,  and  thought  that 
she  ought  to  be  happy. 

Boy  of  14  Enters. 

Webster  Guerin  lived  across  the  street.     He  was  a  bov  of 


m    DOEA  Mcdonald,  the  million-dollar 

attractive  manners  and  he  won  the  affection  of  Dora  McDonald. 
Slander  gives  one  reason  for  that  affection;  the  woman  gixt-.-i 
another. 

Stole  Him  as  a  Boy,  Slew  Him  as  a  Man,  Says  Archie 

GUERIN. 

Archie  Guerin,  Webster  Guerin's  brother,  told  how  Mrs. 
Dora  McDonald  had  taken  a  violent  fancy  to  Webster  when  he 
was  a  boy  of  14,  and  Archie  13,  or  thereabouts ;  how  she  would 
meet  them  on  their  way  home  from  school  and  whisk  Webster 
into  the  mansion,  keeping  him  two,  three  or  four  hours;  how 
she  used  to  waylay  Webster  on  his  way  home  from  church ;  how 
she  followed  him  through  the  years  until  she  got  the  notion 
that  he  was  falling  in  love  with  Avis  Dargan;  how  she  put 
detectives  on  the  boy's  trail  and  sat  for  hours  in  a  cab  opposite 
the  Omaha  Building  to  see  whether  Miss  Dargan  entered ;  how- 
she  threatened  to  shoot  him;  how  she  would  break  out  into 
wild  and  vehement  declarations  of  her  love,  wailing  that  she 
"worshiped  every  hair  of  his  head,"  and  that  she  would  kill 
him  before  she  would  lose  him. 

How  she  came  into  the  studio  on  the  day  Webster  was  shot, 
asserting  that  she  had  "told  that  old  slob  everything"  (meaning 
her  husband),  and  said  she  was  going  to  New  York;  how  Web- 
ster had  replied  that  he  was  "through  with  her,"  to  which  she 
retorted,  "I  am  not  through  with  you;  do  you  think  I  would 
kill  myself  without  first  putting  a  bullet  into  your  head?" 
How  Mrs.  McDonald  had  requested  him  to  leave  the  studio, 
and  how  he  had  refused  to  do  so  until  Webster  joined  his  re- 
quest to  hers;  how  Archie  and  the  two  boys  employed  in  the 
studio  had  gone  away  and  left  them  to  act  out  the  tragedy  liy 
themselves  behind  doors  that  were  closed  and  locked ;  how 
Archie  had  gone  to  the  Windsor  Clifton  Hotel  to  meet  Harry 
Feldman,  with  whom  he  had  a  business  appointment;  how 
Feldman  had  become  alarmed  when  he  heard  that  Mrs.  Mc- 
Donald and  Webster  were  alone  in  the  studio,  urging  Archie 


l,o  call  Wfebster  on  the  telephone;  how  he  and  Archie  c-teppeil 
to  the  'phone,  called  up  the  studio,  and  after  a  gruff  "hello" 
from  a  policeman  got  back  the  staggering  news :  "Your  brother 
has  been  murdered." 

Mike  McDonald  Deluded  by  Wife. 

"Mike"  seemingly  was  deluded.  He  may  have  had  suspicions 
of  his  wife,  but  his  suspicions  seem  to  have  been  quieted  by 
the  woman. 

Even  when  Guerin  followed  her  to  California  she  dared  to 
wire  Mike:  "Web  Guerin  is  coming:  fear  I  shall  be  compro- 
mised; shall  I  come  back?" 

It  was  such  a  frank  admission  that  the  gambler  urged  her 
to  have  mettle.  "Stick,"  he  sent  back  word.  "Don't  let  anyone 
bluff  you." 

Things  went  on  this  way  until  the  morning  of  February  31, 
1906.  Then  something  happened,  the  climax  occurred  and 
Guerin  was  shot. 

Provides  for  the  Defense. 

After  the  arrest  of  his  wife,  "Mike"  McDonald  announced 
that  he  believed  in  her  integrity  and  declared  he  would  spend 
every  cent  of  his  fortune  to  save  her.  The  former  gambling 
dictator  was  almost  70  years  old  and  his  health  was  failing 
rapidly.  Four  months  after  the  event  he  was  taken  to  the 
St.  Anthony  de  Padua  Hospital,  where  he  remained  until  his 
death.  August  9,  1907. 

McDonald  was  still  passing  to  his  death  when  there  crept 
into  his  room  a  little,  white-haired  woman  who  had  come  from 
N"ewark,  N.  J.  There  she  was  known  as  Mrs.  Grashoff  and  a 
great  charity  worker,  especially  in  the  interest  of  fallen  girls 
in  the  Crittenden  homes.  Years  before  Mike  McDonald  had 
called  her  his  first  wife. 

Dramatic  Meeting  op  McDonald  and  First  Wife. 

By  the  laws  of  the  church  she  was  still  his  wife,  no  matter 
what  the  years  had  brought  forth.     So  Mike  took  her  hand 


563      DOKA  McDonald,  the  MILLIOX-DOLLAR 

and  held  it  and  spoke  softly  to  her  in  a  breath  of  full  forgive- 
ness and  passed  away.  Without  the  door  sat  the  woman  whom 
he  had  called  his  wife — Dora,  whom  he  had  won  from  a  hus- 
band and  to  whom  he  had  been  faithful  until  he  stepped  to 
the  brink  of  his  grave. 

This  was  the  last  straw  that  crushed  the  spirit  of  Dora 
McDonald. 

The  body  of  Webster  Guerin  was  removed  to  McISTally  & 
Duffy's  undertaking  rooms  at  516  AVabash  avenue. 

Detective  Wooldridge  took  up  the  work  of  gathering  tlu» 
evidence  and  prepared  the  case  for  the  Coroner  and  Grand 
Jury. 

The  Grand  Jury  indictment-  placed  Dora  McDonald  seemingly 
beyond  the  pale  of  bail,  but  Mike  worked  assiduously  and 
finally  secured  her  release  from  prison  on  $50,000  bonds.  Then 
Mike  became  ill  and  died  in  St.  Anthony's  Hospital. 

Before  he  gave  way  to  his  broken  heart  McDonald  drew  up 
a  will.  He  set  aside  a  defense  fund  with  which  the  woman 
might  be  given  adequate  chance  for  freedom  in  the  court,  and 
left  her  "such  rights  and  only  such  rights  as  she  may  be  en- 
titled to  as  widow." 

Trial  Begins. 

Mrs.  McDonald  was  put  on  trial  January  20.  The  jury  was 
completed  January  25  and  the  taking  of  testimony  began  at 
once.  The  case  of  the  State  was  made  as  complete  as  possible 
and  the  defense  began  an  exhaustive  array  of  testimony.  The 
defense,  however,  came  to  a  surprisingly  sudden  end.  It  had 
been  feared  that  Mrs.  McDonald  might  not  live  through  the 
trial  and  there  was  every  desire  to  have  a  verdict  before  she 
might  give  way  to  heart  trouble. 

The  case  was  heard  before  Judge  Theodore  Brentano,  and  it 
lasted  twenty-one  days. 

Dora  McDonald  was  represented  by  Colonel  James  Hamilton 
Lewis,  Chief  Assistant  Patrick  H.  O'Donnell,  Attorneys  Ben- 


GAMBLER'S  WIFE  ARRESTED  FUR  MURDER    r-(i:; 


^  a 

4"*'  '"f  ntiiiljilim^^iiM 

L^y§ 

■;..:',  ..    ■,                    \-  ,^.s;:i^i|;,4:|swv:. 

^m. 

.p;-^p 

wl| 

..,;^s'^.«! 

iS^^:J^*^Rii^^..3 

'»:»•: 

JOHN  C.  ANDERSON 


FUtTON.   GEORGE 


ROLAMD   F.   GRAHAM.       JAMES  J. 


I.    OTTO  H.  NbLSOM. 


LOVE  TRAGEDY  JURY 


Jamin  M.  Shaftncr,  Frank  R.  Cain,  Gabriel  Nordeu,  Clarence 
Shaffner  and  Forest  G.  Smith. 

The   State  was   represented  by   Assistant   State's   Attorneys 
William  K.   Rittenhouse  and  Edward  S.  Day. 
Names  of  the  Jury. 

Harry  Corcoran,  Joseph  Koehy,  Arne  Peterson,  Hugh  H. 
Fulton,  George  W.  Miller,  Roland  F.  Graham,  James  J. 
Noonan,  Otto  H.  Nelson,  Charles  R.  Johnson,  Herbert  R.  Garn. 
Charles  McGrath,  John  C.  Anderson. 

Packed  Courtroom. 

With  the  courtroom  packed  to  the  doors  and  several  hundred 


564      DOEA  ^IcDONALD.  THE  MILLION-DOLLAK 

men  and  women  struggling  to  gain  admission,  the  actual  trial 
of  Mrs.  Dora  McDonald,  widow  of  ^Mike  McDonald,  com- 
menced. Assistant  State's  Attorney  Edward  S.  Day  made  an 
opening  statement  of  the  case.  Trembling  and  his  eyes  flash- 
ing, he  pointed  a  finger  at  Mrs.  Dora  McDonald  and  in  a  ring- 
ing voice  denounced  her  as  the  murderess  of  Guerin. 

"Dora  McDonald  became  acquainted  with  Guerin.  who  was 
about  14  years  old.  His  parents  lived  a  short  distance  from 
the  McDonald  home. 

"A  friendship  between  Mrs.  McDonald  and  the  boy  began, 
which  his  mother  and  other  relatives  later  tried  to  end.  Three 
years  later  the  McDonalds  removed  to  the  Drexel  boulevard 
V.ome,  but  the  intimacy  of  Webster  Guerin  and  Mrs.  McDonald 
continued. 

"At  any  event,  as  time  passed  on,  dealing  meantime  gently 
with  th&  woman  and  developing  Web  into  a  young  man  of  more 
than  six  feet  in  height,  the  two  were  seen  frequently  together. 
Relatives  of  both  testified  that  the  two  kissed  each  other:  that 
at  times  Mrs.  McDonald  grew  jealous,  in  all  apparent  intent, 
over  him ;  that  she  wrote  poems  and  set  them  to  music  to  show 
what  seemed  to  be  the  very  depths  of  a  despairing  heart. 

"The  woman  was  insanely  jealous  over  him."  "He  had  Avan- 
dered  out  from  her  love  into  the  light  of  other  women's  eyes. 
Driven  to  distraction  by  the  thought  that  the  boy  she  had 
taught  to  love  had  grown  up  to  love  another,  she  murdered 
him." 

"No,"  said  the  defense.  "This  woman  was  the  victim  of 
blackmail.  First  she  had  been  hounded  until  she  gave  way 
to  the  big  youth,  and  then  she  had  paid  him  money  from  her 
hoard  in  the  hope  that  she  might  free  herself  of  him." 

Testimony  on  the  blackmail  ])oint  was  clouded  by  the  maze 
of  recrimination,  but  the  State?  could  not  deny  that  Mrs.  Mc- 
Donald had  on  several  occasions  given  the  young  man  money 
with  which  to  leave  the  city,  but  that  each  time  he  had  re- 
turned "broke"  within  a  few  days. 


UAMBLEK'S  WIFE  AKltE.STED   VOH  .MUKDEK    r,b5 

Mr.  Day*!;  deimneiatiou  of  Mrs.  Dora  McDonald  was  bit- 
ter, but  the  defendant  appeared  to  take  no  notice  of  what  the 
lawjer  was  saying. 

Dora  McDonald  sat  quietly  as  if  in  a  trance ;  the  bitterness 
of  failure,  the  weariness  of  defeat,  was  expressed  in  ever}'^ 
flutter  of  her  purple-shadowed  eyelids  as  she  came  before  the 
bar  to  answr  for  the  murder  of  Webster  Guerin,  January  20, 
1907. 

Dora  McDonald  jiresented  a  pathetic  appearance  before  the 
jury. 

She  was  dressed  all  in  black.  Not  a  single  bit  of  lace  or 
white  relieved  the  somber  effect  of  her  funereal  widow's  garb. 
In  arranging  her  hair  Mrs.  McDonald  exhibited  a  novel  idea. 
The  long,  deep-auburn  strands  were  braided  into  one  plait  and 
this  was  wound  over  her  temples  in  a  single  coil  and  fastened 
wqth  coral  pins. 

In  its  unaffected  artlessness  Mrs.  McDonald's  entry  into  the 
courtroom  and  her  removal  of  her  hat  as  she  sank  into  her 
chair  was  an  act  of  almost  girlish  grace.  Her  long  black  cloak, 
satin  lined,  was  thrown  carelessly  on  a  chair. 

When  she  had  removed  her  hat  and  cloak  she  looked  squarely 
into  the  faces  of  the  jury.  ^ 

Dramatic  Scene  ix  Courtroom. 

The  face  that  was  turned  piteously  toward  the  jury  was 
deeply  lined  with  the  furrows  of  physical  and  mental  suf- 
fering. 

The  eyes  drooped  constantly,  and  there  were  times  when 
she  closed  them  for  a  full  minute. 

Every  movement  of  the  lips  or  eyelids,  every  arrangement 
of  dress  and  costume,  was  either  studiously  planned  or  pathet- 
ically dramatic. 

The  WTariness  and  bitterness  were  marked  in  the  droop  of 
her   mouth,    in    the    perplexed    Avrinkling   of    her   forehead,    in 


566      DORA  McDOXALD,  THE  MILLION-DOLLAR 

the   stoop   of  lier   shoulders^,   in   the   rehixatiou    of   her   handc, 
lyiug  heavily  on  the  table  before  her. 

A  long,  long  line  of  battles  t:he  has  behind  her,  with  her 
good  name  torn  to  shreds  in  tli£  fight ;  and  nobody  can  guess  at 
the  scars  and  open  wounds  in  her  sonl.  No  matter  how  great 
may  have  been  her  fault,  how  untrammeled  her  impulses  and 
wishes,  how  wild  and  defiant  her  spirit  toward  tlie  law  and 
society,  now  she  is  a  tired,  broken  woman,  who  has  lost  the 
day. 

Bloom  Goxe  fhom  Cheek. 

There  are  many  who  say  that  the  beauty  of  which  Dora  Mc- 
Donald was  once  so  proud  has  departed  entirely.  The  eyes 
were  heavy,  the  skin  no  longer  showed  the  pink  of  health, 
but  was  a  dead  white,  her  figure  had  fallen  away  until  she 
was  almost  emaciated,  but  there  was  a  beauty  in  her  sadness 
and  despair  that  the  triumphant  woman  never  possessed. 

She  seldom  looked  at  the  veniremen,  nor  did  she  appear 
to  be  following  the  questions  put  to  them.  Occasionally  she 
glanced  at  a  possible  juror  as  he  stepped  up  to  be  sworn,  but 
for  the  most  part  she  sat  with  her  head  resting  on  her  hand, 
or  looking  ahead  at  some  mental  vision.  Is  it  the  face  of 
young  Webster  Guerin  ^he  sees,  as  he  lay  dead,  or  the  face  of 
old  "Mike"  McDonald  as  he  smoothed  her  hair  and  loaded 
her  with  caresses?  Is  it  remorse  for  a  crime,  or  longing  and 
grief  for  a  dead  admirer?  Or  is  it  despair  for  a  wasted  life,  a 
hopeless  future,  a  thousand  lost  opportunities? 

N"o  Madness  in  Her  Eyes. 

If  the  defense  expected  to  utilize  the  plea  of  insanity  it 
would  have  had  some  difficulty  in  inducing  a  jury  to  believe 
that  Mrs.  McDonald  was  greatly  deranged.  There  \<"as  no 
gleam  of  madness  in  her  eyes.  They  were  dark-circled  and 
languid,  but  not  at  all  staring  or  strange.  She  seemed  un- 
usually self-poised  and  collected. 

Without  anv   arlificcs   (^f    dross    or    cosmetics,   without    anv 


GAMBLER'S  WIFE  AEKESTED  FOR  MURDER    567 

gleam  of  gaiety  or  vivacity,  it  was  not  impossible  to  understand 
why  this  woman  wielded  the  great  inflnenee  in  the  lives  of 
tliree  men  that  she  did.  In  the  first  place,  her  features  were 
regular  and  fine.  Her  eyebrows  Avere  delicately  penciled  and 
her  eyes  large  and  dark. 

Traces  of  >Siren  Left. 
.  The  contour  of  her  cheeks  was  soft  and  round.  But  one 
can  imagine,  in  happier  days,  that  there  was  a  captivating  play 
of  expression,  an  esprit,  a  beaute  de  diable,  that  would  be 
particularly  fascinating  to  a  man  like  old  "Mike"  McDonald. 
And  upon  such  a  woman  would  the  self-made  man,  the  gam- 
liler,  uncultivated  and  rough,  fast  approaching  old  age,  delight 
to  heap  luxury  and  adoration,  as  there  is  no  doubt  "Mike" 
McDonald  did. 

And  is  it  not  easy  to  imagine  that  such  a  woman  would  have 
a  powerful  attraction  for  a  young  man,  with  her  sophistication 
and  experience  matched  against  his  ignorance?  And  now  one 
of  the  men  is  dead  of  a  broken  heart,  and  the  other  struck 
down  in  the  very  first  flush  of  his  youth,  and  the  instrument 
of  pleasure  and  destruction  stands  at  the  end  of  a  shattered 
life. 

Until  a  jury  should  decide,  in  so  far  as  human  fallibility 
may  decide,  just  whether  or  how  Dora  McDonald  shot  down 
Webster  Guerin,  that  victim  of  tangled  love  and  jealousy,  a 
waiting  city  hung  expectant  on  every  incident  bared  since  the 
day  that  the  artist  toppled  before  a  pistol  ball  in  his  studio 
with  a  woman  of  furs  and  furbelows  standing  sobbing  above 
him. 

A  "SArPHo'''  AND  "Saiome."' 

A  "Sappho"  in  a  grimy  city  she  M-as  called  because  her  heart 
was  touched  by  the  strength  of  youth ;  a  "Salome"  because  she 
])lanted  a  kiss  on  his  dying  lips,  but  whether  she  was  victim 
or  vampire,  sinner  or  sinned  against,  was  solely  for  the  jury 
to  sav. 


.■)H,s    DOHA  McDonald,  thk  milijon-dollae 

(rios  of  blackmail,  of  bribery,  of  frenzied  jealousy,  of  shame- 
less love  and  daring  intrigue,  rang  around  the  courtroom  for 
the  long  days  of  the  trial,  but  for  the  jury  it  was  only  to  look- 
behind  the  locked  door  of  the  artist's  studio  and  see  whether 
the  revolver  Avith  which  Guerin  was  shot  down  was  held  bv 
the  woman  or  the  young  man-  whether  there  was  malice  or 
accident  or  self-destruction,  and  what  the  motive  for  either 
might  be. 

The  shot  that  sounded  his  death  was  the  climax  to  an  at- 
tachment— guilty  or  not,  as  th^  case  might  be — that  began 
when  Dora  McDonald  was  a  wonderfully  beautiful  and  younger 
women,  the  wife  of  a  wealthy  gambler,  and  the  lady  of  a 
mansion,  and  AYebster  Guerin  was  a  mere  lad,  just  old  enough 
to  doff  short  trousers  for  manly  attire. 

Affection,  money  and  attention  were  lavished  on  the  young 
man  by  this  woman.  At  banquet  board  and  in  the  theater 
box  they  passed  their  hours  together.  Of  this  there  was  no 
dispute.  The  sole  question  was  whether  the  woman  gave  way 
lo  the  lure  of  a  boy,  or  whether  the  boy  was  importuned  by  tlie 
woman ;  whether  in  after  years  that  boy  blackmailed  that  same 
woman,  or  whether  she  loved  him  to  a  distraction  that  brought 
the  madness  of  jealousy  and  the  revolver. 

And  what  of  the  love  attachment?  the  police  wondered.  But 
as  they  delved  a  little  they  unearthed  strange  and  tender 
things,  but  nothing  more  strange  than  poems  written  by  the 
woman  and  apparently  dedicated  to  the  youth. 

The  tragedy  of  a  soul  was  bared  when  Assistant  State's  At- 
torney Day  read  to  the  jury  poems  of  passion  found  in  the 
reticule  taken  from  Mrs.  McDonald  on  her  arrest. 

The  State  regarded  the  declarations  contained  in  the  verse 
MS  disclosing  a  dual  motive  of  murder  and  suicide,  and  intro- 
duced them  as  circumstantial  evidence.  One  entitled  "Alis- 
takes"  was  written  on  the  day  of  the  Guerin  love  tragedy. 

Here  is  the  first  one  read: 


GAMBLER'S  WIFE  ART?E81^ED  FOR  MURDER    569 
Tragedy  op  a  Soul  in  Poems  of  Passiox  by  Dora  McDonald. 

Put  the  woi-d  "finish"  doAvn  by  my  name : 

I  played  for  high  stakes,  but  I  lost  the  game ; 

I  played  for  life,   for  honor  and  love  ; 

Well,  1  am  not  the  first  mortal  who  has  lost  all. 

I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  care  not  a  bit ; 

Let   honor   and   love  sink   to   the   bottomless   pit. 

Pull   down    the   curtains,   bring  in    the   lights, 

Put   from   my  memory   horrible   sights  . 

Of  treachery  where  there  should  have  been  love. 

Of    red    blood    where    should    have    been    whiteness    of    dove ; 

The  past,   the  present   and  the  future  are  done : 

How  different,  O  God !  had  it  been  had  I  won. 

Weitten   as  Tragedy  Approached. 
We   are   drifting  apart, 
Though  from  no  change  of  heart : 
But  we  cannot  agree, 
And  the  end  we  can  see, 
So  the  bonds  of  our  love  we  will  sever ; 
And   I   wonder   if  we 
Will,  alas !  too  late  see 
That  our  happiness  lay  in  each  other. 
For  when  soul  finds  its  mate 
It  is  often  too  late 

To   struggle   and   fight   against   conquering   fate. 
And  what  does  it  mean? 
This  parting,    I   ween ; 
I'll    leave   you,    but.    well. 
Neither  heaven  nor   hell 
Will    make   me    forget   you. 
Nor   save   you    should   t    find 
Another   holds   the  place   that   was   and   is   mine. 

Poem  Written  on  D.vte  of  the  Guerin  Tragedy. 

This  poem,  entitled  "^Mistakes,"  i?  dated  Februan'-  31,  1901, 

11 :20  a.  m. : 

Said  he:     "Where   is  my  sin? 

I'm  only  as  men  have  ever  been. 

I'm  not  so  bad,  I'm  not  so  good. 

And  I'd  be  as  you'd  have  me  if  only  I  could. 

But  you  are  strong  and  good  and  brave. 

Surely   for  me  a   road  .von   can   pave, 

A  road  which  shall  be  my  happiness,   my  very  soul  save. 

After  all,  it's  for  you  and  you  only  that  I  crave." 

She  waited  a  moment,  then  came  her  reply : 

"To    the    old    adage,    that    women    are    weak,    you    can    give    the    lie. 

Not  only  you,  others  as  well. 

All  through  life  have  the  same  tale  to  tell. 

I  didn't  mean  to  do  it — I  didn't,  I  swear. 

But  you   can  forgive  me;  your  loss  I   cannot  bear. 

Can  I  forgive  you?     Well,   that's  not  so  clear. 

Though  you  certainly  were  to  me  very  dear. 

I  think,  after  all,  now  that  I  am  awake. 

I  think  it  was  I  who  made  the  mistake. 

T  thought  of  you  ever  as  a  flower  rare. 

With  whom  other  flowers  could  not  even  compare. 


570    DORA  McDonald,  the  million-dodlar 

Alack  and  alas !  I  find,  after  all, 

You  are  only  a  sunflower,   of  which  there  are  many. 

Who  take  all  the  elements  have  to  give 

And  give  nothing  that  creates  or  causes  happiness  to  live.'" 

"Kill  Me  If  You  Will/'  She  Says  in  a  Yerse. 
Another  of  Mrs.  ]\IcDonald's  poems,  written  on  the  day  of 
the  killing,  is  as  follows: 

Kill  me  if  you  will,  for  all  is  well. 

I   know   that   to   Satan   your   soul   you   can't   sell, 

And   I've  saved  you   from   everlasting  hell. 

I  had  lifted  you  up,  when,  lo  !   I  found 

Slowly  but  surely  you  were  dragging  me  down. 

Out  of  space   thus  came  a  warning 

Soft  and  clear  as   the  breath  of  the  morning. 

Pearls   Before   Swine.  • 
Have  you  learned  the  old  saying  of  pearls  before  swine? 
I   gave  every  pearl  that  ever  was  mine. 
I've  nothing  more   to  give. 
And  it's  hardly  worth  while  for  me  to  live. 
More  blessed  to  give  than  receive,   they  say. 
I  followed  that  teaching  in  my  poor  way. 
I  wanted  returns,  I'll  have  to  confess, 
And  I  had  to  be  cool,  and  firm  and  brave. 
For  I  knew  'twas  my  duty  your  soul  to  save. 
And   I've  set  your  feet  on  the  path   of  right. 
And  from  now  till  the  end  you  shall  see  but  the  light 
And  turn  from  it  to  pitfalls  and  terrors  of  night. 
Turn  to  the  right,   to  the  wrong  you   may  sway. 
From  black  imps'  vile  rottenness  I've  snatched  you   away. 
And  though  I  fall  slain  at  your  feet  with  a  moan. 
I  care  not.  for  evil  from  you  has  flown  ; 
And,  by  all  the  glory  of  God  above, 
I've  proven  the  strength  of  a  weak  woman's  love. 
And   I   thought   my   pearls   would   bring   love   that   was   blessed. 
I  did  so  want  love  that  was  loyal ; 
'Twas  more  to  me  than  a  diadem  royal. 
But  I  found  too  late  that  I  was  wrong. 
That  love  but  existed  in  hopes  and  in  song. 
What  became  of  those  pearls  of  mine? 
Oh.   nothing!      I   just    threw  my   pearls   to  the  swine. 

Another  Poem  of  Passion. 
I  waged  a  battle  fierce  and  long, 
I   fought  to   know   the   right   from   wrong. 
Did   I  succeed?     I  cannot  tell. 
Yet  when  I  met  sin  I  knew  full  well 
That  fight's  not  over.     'Tis  scarcely  begun. 
And  I  struggle  again  to  win.  one  by  one. 
Steps  on   the  ladder  that  mounts  to  great  deeds. 
Where  the  path  to  the  right  unfailingly  leads. 
As  I  gazed  at  the  battlefield,   flooded   with  gore. 
Where   the  path   to   the  right   unfailingly   bore, 
I   knew  that  the  wounds  came  from  contact  with   sin. 
'Twas  demons   let   loose   that   float    in   the  air; 


GAMBLER'S  WIFE  AREESTED  FOR  MURDER   571 

But  the  fight's  worth  the  while,  for  when 
Misery  and  heartaches  shall  all  pass  away 
Right  has  full  sway. 

The  reading  of  the  poems  was  followed  intently  by  the  big 
crowd  in  Judge  Brentano's  courtroom.  Mrs.  McDonald  ap- 
peared uninterested. 

From  poetry  the  step  was  easy  into  song.  Accomplished 
and  educated  as  Dora  McDonald  was,  with  time  hanging, 
sometimes,  heavy  on  her  hands,  what  more  natural  than  that 
she  should  set  her  verses  to  music  of  her  own  composing? 

Nevee  Again. 
^Song  written,  composed  and  published  by  Mrs.  Michael  C.  McDonald.) 
'Twas  only  a  story  of  a  woman's  love,  a  tale  that  has  often  been  told. 
She  gave  a  love  that  knew  no  bounds ;  the  rest  of  the  story  is  old. 
Again  he  had  strayed,  and  this  time  had  made  a  mistake  she  could  nevor 

forget ; 
In  a  voice  that  was  dense  with  a  grief  intense  she  mournfully  did  say  : 
I  gave  you  sweetest  love,  you  gave  me  naught  but  pain  ; 
Oh,   I   forgave  you  more  than  once   but   to  be   hurt  again. 
This    time    it    means    the    end,    for    I    could    never    forget. 
I  shall  never  see  you  again,  although  I  love  you  yet. 
With  tears  in   his  eyes  the  man  replied :     "I  know  that  I  have  gone 

astray  ; 
RemQj-se  will   last  till   life   is  passed ;   forgive  me,   don't  send   me  away. 
Oh.  let  me  atone,  live  for  you  alone ;  just  once  more  have  pity  on  me." 
But,  bowing  her  head,  with  its  look  of  one  dead,  she  softly  but  firmly 
said : 

I  gave  you  sweetest  love,  etc. 

The  mother  of  the  woman,  an  aged  orthodox  Hebrew,  never 
went  near  Dora  McDonald  until  the  trial  was  nearly  done, 
though  that  same  old  woman  bent  her  knees  as  she  day  and 
night  raised  her  voice  to  Jehovah  in  lamentations. 

Ill  health,  mental  and  physical,  followed.  All  the  sorrows 
of  a  shattered  life  befell  her. 

Sought  Vindication"  to  Spare  Her  Aged  Mother, 

For  Dora  McDonald,  life  had  been  lived  when  Guerin  died. 
It  mattered  not  after  that  whether  she  went  to  the  gallows  or 
to  freedom.  But  for  one  reason  she  would  not  have  cared  a 
whit  whether  her  case  was  fought  before  a  jury  or  not.  The 
one  reason  was  vindication  that  her  mother  might  be  spared 
something  of  shame. 


572      DORA  McDonald,  the  MILLIOX-DOLLAE 

The  vindication,  however,  Avas  sought  at  a  costl)-  price — tlie 
price  of  a  life  and  heart  and  love  bared  to  a  gaping  world. 
It  was  an  expensive  effort  to  wash  off  the  stain  of  an  indict- 
ment. 

At  the  trial  Assistant  State's  Attorneys  Edward  S.  Day  and 
William  H.  Rittenhouse  wrangled  with  their  own  witnesses  and 
tried  one  after  another  to  have  them  testify  to  things  they 
jiever  saw  or  heard. 

They  attacked  Inspector  John  Wheeler,  Officer  J.  G.  S. 
Peterson,  Thomas  F.  McFarland,  Detective  Wooldridge,  Police 
Matron  Elizabeth  Belmont,  Charles  Freudenberg,  an  old 
soldier  60  years  old,  and  threatened  him  with  an  indictment: 
Louis  Jacobs,  Lorenzo  Blasi,  Herman  Hanson  and  Charles  B. 
Williams. 

All  of  those  accused  except  Detective  Wooldridge  considered 
the  fulminations  of  Attorneys  Day  and  Rittenhouse  a  good  joke. 
They  regarded  them  as  the  vaporings  of  temporarily  disordered 
intellects,  minds  that  had  become  rattled  by  a  case  which  was 
too  big  for  them. 

Owing,  however,  to  the  peculiar  position  in  which  he  was 
placed  as  the  officer  who  made  the  arrest,  Wooldridge  was 
forced  to  take  cognizance  of  the  matter. 

Wooldridge  denied  the  statements  made  against  him  and 
branded  them  as  malicious  lies  manufactured  out  of  whole 
cloth.  He  asked  for  a  hearing  before  the  Civil  Service  Board, 
which  was  granted  to  him  after  the  trial  was  over. 

It  was  fully  shown  at  the  investigation  how  Wooldridge  had 
been  treated  in  the  matter,  and  the  motive  for  his  transfer;  it 
was  also  shown  that  he  knew  no  new  facts,  neither  did  he  meet 
or  know  any  witnesses  except  those  who  had  testified  to  the 
Coroner  and  Grand  Jury. 

The  motives  for  his  transfer  and  the  reports  were  fnlly 
uncovered  and  exposed. 

Detective  Wooldridge  was  exonerated  by  the  entire  Board  of 
Civil  Service  Commissioners. 


GAMBLEE'S  WIFE  ARRESTED  FOR  MURDER   573 

Day  and  Rittenhoiise  simply  sewed  up  the  case  in  crimina- 
tions and   recriminations. 

Assistant  State's  Attorneys  Day  and  Rittenliouse  were  out- 
generaled, outclassed  and  whipped,  and  wanted  to  throw  the 
blame  for  the  acquittal  of  Dora  McDonald  on  the  Police  De- 
partment and  failed.     They  did  everything  hut  try  the  case. 
Stkong  Defense  by  Lewis. 

C'olonel  Lewis  said  that  the  State  had  not  denied  that  the 
revolver  with  which  Guerin  was  shot  was  his  own.  He  called 
for  tlie  weapon  and  showed  the  jury  how  Guerin  might  have 
shot  himself  if  Mrs.  McDonald,  in  her  struggle  with  him,  had 
merely  pushed  the  revolver  around  in  the  palm  of  his  hand. 

Again  he  called  for  the  blood-stained  coat  that  Guerin  wore 
when  he  was  killed.  It  was  too  good  an  opportunity  to  be 
overlooked  by  the  fine  dramatic  eye  of  the  Colonel. 

"You  remember  the  speech  of  Mark  Anthony,"  he  said ;  "how 
he  produced  a  tremendous  effect  with  the  robe  of  the  great 
Ca3sar?  I  will  not  ask  for  more  than  the  robe  that  this  Caesar 
wore." 

Tliereupon  he  spread  out  the  grewsome  relic  on  the  railing 
on  tlie  jury  box  to  show  what  he  said  were  powder  marks.  In 
his  mind,  there  was  no  doubt  about  how  the  tragedy  worked 
out.  Guerin,  enraged  and  terrified  when  Mrs.  McDonald  told 
him  tluit  she  had  told  her  rich  and  influential  husband  every- 
thing, attacked  her.  He  got  the  revolver  out  of  his  drawer, 
probably  to  frighten  her.  Mrs.  McDonald,  half  choked,  saw 
it  gleam  and  pushed  it  away  from  her. 

Strikes  Hard  at  x\rchie  Guerin. 

More  striking  than  the  beautiful  imageries  and  the  wealth 
of  quotation  from  ancient  and  modern  authors  with  which  the 
Colonel  embellished  his  speech  was  his  strong  play  upon  *^that 
fifteen  minutes,"  which,  according  to  his  interpretation  of  the 
evidence,  elapsed  between  the  time  the  boys  in  Guerin's  studio 
were  ejected  and  the  time  when  Archie  came  out,  leaving  his 
brother  and  Mrs.  McDonald  alone,  behind  locked  doors. 


5?4      DORA  McDO.NALD,  THE  MILLION-DOLLAR 

"There  need  be  nothing  else  in  this  case  for  you/'  exclaimed 
the  speaker,  "than  this  fifteen  minutes  unaccounted  for.  Archie 
Guerin  knew  what  was  going  on  there,  and  before  God  he 
should  tell,  but  he  did  not.  He  hurried  away  and  cleared  the 
corridors.  Ner^^ous  and  confused,  he  hunted  up  Harry  Feld- 
man  in  the  Windsor-Clifton  Hotel,  so  that  if  anything  hap- 
pened, he  could  say: 

"  'I  didn't  do  it.  You  know  I  didn't,  Feldman.  I  was  righi ' 
liere  with  you.' " 

O'DoNNELL  Moves  to  Tears. 

There  were  wet  eyes  in  the  courtroom  as  the  real  Dora  Mc- 
Donald was  brought  to  life  in  the  closing  address  of  Mr.  O'Don- 
iK'll.  The  bickerings  and  the  charges  and  the  abuse  that  had 
made  the  courtroom  like  a  pothouse  brawl,  all  day  were  for- 
gotten. The  woman's  black  clad  figure  and  her  white,  despair- 
ing face  became  the  living  picture  of  the  world-old  tragedy  of 
the  judgment  and  the  problem  of  pardon. 

"The  tragedy  was  in  that  room,"  said  Mr.  0'D6nnell,  point- 
ing to  a  plat  of  room  703  of  the  Omaha  building,  "and  no  one 
knows  how  the  life  of  Guerin  was  ended. 

"I  am  not  going  to  place  a  wreath  upon  the  brow  of  this 
woman.  She  is  not  all  that  a  man  would  wish  his  wife  to  be. 
Slie  has  traveled  the  devious  pathways  and  her  eyes  have  fallen 
upon  the  shifting  scenes  of  life. 

"The  Sabbath  is  coming  on.  Her  ancestral  people  lit  the 
candles  at  sundown  last  night.  Somewhere  in  this  city  a  light 
is  burning  where  a  Jewish  mother  is  praying  and  hoping  for 
her  erring  daughter.  You  are  approaching  the  moment  when 
you  must  do  your  great  duty.  You  are  here  only  to  sa)-^  whether 
she  killed  Guerin  with  a  criminal  intent  in  her  heart. 
Quotes  the  Gospel. 

"A  daughter  of  Israel  coming  to  judgment.  She  may  have 
been  wayward,  but  we  are  not  here  to  judge  her  past  life.  In  a 
temple  of  Jerusalem  many  years  ago  the  Saviour  of  us  all  stood 
l>efore  the  multitude  and  they  brought  him  a  woman  and  said : 


GAMBLER\S  WIFE  ARKEtSTED  EOK  MURDER    575 

''  'She  has  been  taken  in  sin  and  she  must  die."    And  he  said: 

"  'Let  him  who  is  without  sin  among  you  east  the  first  stone.' 
And  they  walked  away  and  left  him  with  the  woman.  Then 
the  Master  said  to  the  woman: 

"  'Go  and  sin  no  more.^ 

"Let  us  pass  judgment  upon  this  woman  as  the  Son  of  Man 
passed  it  upon  the  woman  of  old  that  we  may  expect  mercy 
when  we  stand  at  last  where  the  fallen  woman  of  Jerusalem 
stood." 

Mr.  O'Donnell  created  a  scene  of  profound  dramatic  fea- 
tures when  he  based  his  contention  that  Guerin  blackmailed 
Mrs.  McDonald  upon  a  letter  written  by  Guerin.  He  called 
the  ghost  of  Guerin  to  take  the  witness  stand  and  testify  against 
the  state's  attorneys. 

Acquittal  Creates  Thrilling  Scenes. 

These  were  the  scenes  which  attended  the  rendition  of  the 
Dora  McDonald  verdict: 

"Bring  in  the  jury,"  said  Judge  Brentano,  as  he  dropped 
into  the  big  leather-upholstered  chair  behind  the  bench. 

Bradle}''  was  waiting  for  the  word  at  the  door  to  the  Judge's 
right.  Looking  very  solemn  and  sphinx-like,  the  twelve  men 
filed  in  and  took  their  usual  places. 

At  the  same  time  Mrs.  McDonald  came  through  the  corridor 
from  the  custodian's  room,  accompanied  by  her  nurse,-  Miss 
-V.  K.  Beck.  Miss  Beck  was  trembling,  but  there  was  not  a 
tremor  in  ^Irs.  McDonald's  hands  or  a  movement  of  the  facial 
muscles  to  indicate  that  she  felt  the  least  excitement. 

Attorney  Norden  pulled  out  her  armchair  for  her  and  pushed 
it  under  her  again  as  she  sat  down.  Every  man  in  the  court- 
room felt  a  choke  in  his  throat,  but  if  Mrs.  McDonald  felt  it 
she  gave  no  evidence  of  it. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  the  judge,  turning  toward  the  jury,  "have 
yoiT  agreed  upon  a  verdict?" 

At  first  there  was  no  answer,  and  the  judge  had  to  repeat 
the  question.  That  interval  was  like  a  lapse  of  a  week  or  a  month. 


676      DORA  McDOXALD.  THE  MILLION-DOLLAK 

Mrs.  McDonald,  who  had  not  been  asked  to  rise,  sat  facing 
the  jury  and  looking  straight  at  them.     She  considered  it  only 
polite  to  keep  awake  and  to  forego  those  beloved  "dreams"  of 
hers  in  honor  of  the  verdict,  whatever  it  might  be. 
Suspense  Frightful. 

"Have  you  agreed  upon  a  verdict?"  repeated  Judge  Bren- 
tano,  a  little  impatiently. 

"We  have,"  replied  the  foreman,  Hugh  H.  Fulton,  rising; 
and  displaying  a  paper  which  he  held  in  his  right  hand. 

"Let  the  Clerk  of  the  Court  read  it." 

A.  J.  Harris,  the  Clerk,  was  already  in  front  of  the  railing 
to  receive  the  paper.  He  took  it  to  his  desk,  and  holding  it 
under  an  incandescent  lamp,  for  the  courtroom  was  dark,  he 
read,  in  a  loud  voice: 

"We,  the  jury,  find  the  defendant,  Dora  McDonald,  n(M 
guilty." 

It  was  as  though  you  had  touched  a  match  to  a  pile  of  gun- 
powder. The  people  in  the  courtroom  seemed  to  explode.  They 
did  not  cheer,  or  applaud,  or  shout,  and  yet  they  appeared  to 
he  doing  all  of  them.  The  tension  was  broken  and  a  sort  of 
bubbling  effervescence  took  its  place. 

McDonald  Jurors  Tell  of  .the  Verdict. 

"The  jury  found  Mrs.  McDonald  innocent  because  they  could 
not  feel  sure  that  she  did  not  act  in  self-defense,  and,  follow- 
ing the  instructions  of  the  court,  gave  her  the  benefit  of  tlio 
doubt." 

This  was  the  opinion  voiced  by  Juror  Charles  McGrath.  Mr. 
McGrath  said  that  the  jury  presumed  the  defendant  sane,  and 
that  the  matter  of  possible  insanity  was  not  considered  at  any 
time. 

"I  think  that  the  jury  attached  a  great  deal  of  imponanci^ 
to  the  testimony  of  Dr.  McNamara,"  continued  Mr.  McGrath. 

"He  was  the  only  physician  that  had  made  a  thorough  physi- 
cal examination  of  the  defendant  subsequent  to  Guerin's  death. 
We  especially  paid  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  that  portion  of 


GAMBLEK'S  WIFE  AHKR8TED  FOR  MURDER    577 

lii,s  ttsiimony  that  toid  of  the  marks  found  on  Mrs.  McDonald's 
neck,  indicating  that  she  had  been  choked.  This  evidence, 
taken  with  that  relative  to  the  finding  of  the  hairpins  on  the 
floor,  showed  that  there  had  been  a  struggle,  and  the  court 
had  instructed  us  that  if  we  found  that  there  had  been  a  strug- 
gle we  would  be  Justified  in  finding  a  verdict  of  acquittal. 

"Although  I,  perhaps,  ought  to  speak  only  for  myself,  I  will 
i<ay  that  I  do  not  think  that  the  members  of  the  jury  were 
much  impressed  with  the  expert  testimony." 

Another  juror  said  that  those  favoring  an  acquittal  based 
their  arguments  largely  on  the  fact  that  most  of  the  evidence  in 
the  case  was  circumstantial,  and  that  there  was  no  absolute 
proof  that  Mrs.  McDonald  fired  the  fatal  shot  at  all,  and  that 
if  she  did  it  was  not  shown  that  it  was  not  in  self-defense. 

"It  was  mostly  by  argument  along  these  lines  that  the  con- 
viction men  were  won  over,  one  by  one,"  said  this  juror.    "The 
subject  of  the  unwritten  law  was  not  gone  into  at  all." 
Woman  Serene  as  Verdict  is  Read. 

Dora  McDonald,  in  a  state  of  serenity  and  composure  that 
is  baffling  even  to  those  who  are  nearest  her,  was  surrounded 
after  her  acquittal  by  friends  and  relatives,  who  were  weeping 
for  very  joy  at  her  acquittal. 

She  seemed  quite  unconcerned  about  it  all,  but  when  the}' 
took  her  to  one  side  and  asked  her  how  she  felt  about  it,  she 
said,  in  the  amazingly  simple  way  she  has: 

"I  am  pleased.  Do  you  want  me  to  tell  you  the  five  reasons 
why  ?" 

They  said  yes,  and  though  she  lost  herself  several  times  in 
the  attempt,  for  she  was  very  tired — these  were  the  reasons  she 
gave: 

1 — Because  no  Jewish  woman  could  ever  do  a  deed  like  that 
of  which  I  had  been  accused. 

2 — Because  it  removes  the  stigma  from  dad^s  (Michael  C. 
McDonald's)  name. 

3 — Because  of  my  boy. 


578      DOEA  .AIcDONALD,  THE  MILLION-DOLLAR 

4 — Because  of  my  darling  old  mother. 

5 — Please  believe  it,  last  and  least — absolutely  least  of  these 
— because  of  myself. 

"The  only  real  disappointment  to  me  is  that  dad  did  not 
live  to  hear  that  verdict,  and  that  is  my  bitterest  disappoint- 
ment." 

It  had  been  the  belief  generally  among  those  who  followed 
the  case  that  the  woman  would  not  outlive  the  verdict  long,  no 
matter  what  it  might  be.  The  original  plans  Avere  that  she 
would  be  sent  to  a  sanitarium  in  case  of  acquittal.  She  her- 
self is  said  'to  have  planned  that  if  let  go  she  would  make  a 
journey  to  Jerusalem,  and  there  end  her  days  in  prayer  with 
her  chosen  people,  in  an  effort  to  blot  out  her  past.  "Life  can 
never  have  any  more  meaning  for  her,"  Colonel  Lewis  said 
when  the  jury  first  retired.  "Ko  matter  what  the  verdict,  it 
is  of  little  consequence  to  her,  though  she  will  die  happier, 
maybe,  if  she  is  acquitted." 

In  Jerusalem  there  is  what  is  known  as  the  "Wall  of  the 
Wailing  of  the  Jews."  In  the  Valley  of  Tyron,  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Moriah,  on  which  now  stands  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  but 
where  formerly  the  Temple  of  Solomon  stood,  there  are  five 
enormous  stones  built  into  the  foot  of  the  hill.  A  little  court- 
yard beside  these  stones,  which  Solomon  laid  as  the  founda- 
tions of  his  Temple,  is  set  aside  for  the  Jewish  race.  Each 
Friday  this  courtyard  is  filled  with  Jews  Availing  for  the  sor- 
rows of  Israel.  Every  type  of  Jew,  from  the  hunted  Eussian 
to  the  Avoalthy  American,  may  be  found  there,  reading 
from  the  Book  of  Lamentations,  and  sending  the  cry  of  sorrow 
to  the  skies.  It  was  here  that  Dora  McDonald  proposed  to  weep 
out  her  ruined  life. 

But  no,  it  is  not  the  Place  of  Wailing  in  Jerusalem  to  Avhich 
Dora  McDonald  has  gone.  Hard  as  it  is  to  believe  of  the  Avoman 
Avho  so  bravely  passed  through  this  tremendous  ordeal,  she  has 
stooped,  stooped  loAver  than  one  Avould  believe  humanly  possi- 
ble.   She  has  returned  to  the  stage.    She  is  now  engaged  in  at- 


GAMBLER'S  WIFE  ARRESTED  FOR  MURDER   579 


FROM   THE- 

Paimting  by 

BUnNE- JONES  *c=, 


tempting  to  have  a  play  based  upon  the  tremendous  tragedy  of 
her  life  placed  on  the  boards  in  New  York. 

She  is  attempting  to  lay  bare  to  the  gaping  audiences  of 
cheap  theatres  the  sores  upon  her  soul.  She  has  been  calloused 
to  publicity  to  such  an  extent  that  she  now  hungers  for  the 
public  eye.  She  has  placed  herself  in  the  same  class  with  the 
lepers  outside  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  who  display  their  horrid 
sutures  and  demand  a  penny  before  they  replace  the  bandages. 
To  this  petty  end  has  come  this  greatest  and  most  spectacular 
of  modern  trials,  this  heart-shaking  romance  of  love  and  life. 


580      DOHA  :\Lel)OXAl.l).  THK   MJ  LLION-DOLLAR 

After  Paintiiig  (7 

SIR  ED.  BURNE-JONES 

Ver«e«  by 
RUDYARD  KIPUNG. 

FOOL  there  was  and  he  made  his  prayer— 

(Even  as  you  and  I.) 
To  a  rag  and  a  bone  and  a  hank  of  hair— 

(We  called  her  the  woman  who  did  not  care) 
But  the  fool  he  called  her  his  lady  fair— 

(Even  as  you  and  I.) 

Oh,  the  years  we  wa^e  and  the  tears  we  wa^e— 

And  the  work  of  our  head  and  hand 
Belong  to  the  woman  who  did  not  know— 

(And  now  we  know  that  she  never  could  know) 
And  did  not  understand. 

A  fool  there  was  and  his  goods  he  spent— 

(Even  as  you  and  L) 
Honor  jmd  faith  and  a  sure  intent— 
(And  it  wasn't  the  leait  \s^at  the  lady  meant) 
But  a  fool  mu^  follow  his  natural  bent 

(Even  as  you  and  1.) 

Oh,  the  toil  we  lo^  and  the  spoil  we  lo^- 

And  the  excellent  things  we  planned 
Belong  to  the  woman  who  didn't  know  why— 
(And  now  we  know  she  never  knew  why) 

And  did  Qot  underhand. 

The  fool  was  Gripped  to  his  foolish  hide— 

(Even  as  you  and  I.) 
Which  she  might  have  seen  when  she  threw  him  aside— 
(But  it  isn  t  on  record  the  lady  tried) 
So  some  of  .him  lived  but  the  mo^  of  him  died— 

(Even  as  you  and  I.) 

But  it  isn't  the  shame,  and  it  isn't  the  blame 

That  aing  like  a  white  hot  brand- 
It's  coming  to  know  that  she  never  knew  why— 
(Seeing  at  la^  she  could  never  know  why) 

And  could  never  underhand. 


MIKE  McDonald. 


"King    of    Gamblers,"    Supreme   in   His   Day,   Relentless 

Nemesis  of  Old  "Clark  Street  Gang,"  Brings 

His     Gray     Hairs    to     Grave 

With  Broken  Heart. 

Rises    From    Newsboy    to    Gambling    King    and    Becomes 

Millionaire. 

-* 

^like  McDonald's  career  in  Chicago  has  heen  speetacnlar  and 
-cnsational  to  a  degree. 

The  present-day  generation  in  Chicago  cannot  appreciate 
what  the  name  Michael  C.  McDonald  meant  twenty  years  ago 
in  Chicago.  There  is  not  a  single  man  today  in  Chicago,  or  in 
any  city  in  America  who  occupies  relatively  the  position  that 
Mike  McDonald  did  in  the  old  days  in  Chicago. 

He  never  held  office,  but  he  ruled  the  city  with  an  iron  hand. 
He  named  the  men  who  were  to  he  candidates  for  election;  he 
elected  them;  and  then,  after  they  were  in  office,  they  were 
merely  his  puppets. 

While  in  recent  years  Michael  C.  McDonald  has  shown  little 
activity  in  Chicago  political  and  sporting  circles,  living  quietly 
at  Drexel  boulevard  and  Forty-fifth  street,  in  a  costly  mansion, 
his  name  twenty  years  ago  was  a  |)ower  in  both. 

Born  in  1840  in  Xiagara  county,  Xew  York,  he  came  to 
Chicago  in  1854  and  was  a  newsboy  with  John  E.  Walsh  and 
other  pioneers,  in  the  city's  infancy.  Before  the  vvar  a  business 
venture  took  him  to  Xew  Orleans,  and  when  the  south  began 
to  become  inflamed  he  returned  to  Chicago  with  enough  money 
to  purchase  the  sample  room  of  the  Eichmond  House.  Michigan 
avenue  and  South  Water  street. 

Here  a  spectacular  career  began.     McDonald  became  the  big 


582 


LIFE  OF  MICHAEL  C.  McDONALD 


MjiliafI  C  McDonalds  wheel  of  fortune,  sliowing  his  progress  from  bootblack  to  gambling  king, 
and  the  woman's  face  that  brought  him  to  the  tragic  present,  Causing  him  to  exclaim:  "My  riches  have 
brought  rae  only  sorrow  " 

gambler  of  all  the  host  of  gamblers  that  were  then  growing 
rich  in   Chicago.     He  also  became  one  of  the  leaders  in   the 
democratic  organization.     He  made  money  hand  over  fist. 
Begins  Life  as  "Candy  Butcher."     . 
Mike  McDonald  began  life  as  a  "candy  bntcher'  on  railroad 
trains  before  the  war.     He  sold  peanuts  and  popcorn  and  mys- 


KING  OF  GAMBLEKS  583 

terious  packages  not  to  be  opened  on  the  train,  and  fine  gold 
watches  at  $3.75  apiece. 

Mike  ran  on  many  different  railroads,  although  it  must  be 
said  for  the  sake  of  truth  that  his  customers  were  often  very 
sorry  to  board  a  train  and  find  that  the  energetic  little  candy 
butcher  who  had  sold  them  jewelry  on  the  last  trip  they  had 
made  had  left  and  gone  over  to  some  other  railroad.  Mike's 
old  customers  used  to  beg  him  to  return  to  them.  They  even 
dared  him  to  come  back. 

Patriotic  for  a  Price. 

The  candy  butcher  made  money  and  saved  it,  and  during 
the  war  he  settled  down  in  Chicago.  Mike  was  very  patriotic, 
He  sent  many  men  around  to  the  enlistment  offices,  especially 
when  big  bounties  were  offered  for  volunteers.  The  trouble 
with  the  gallant  soldiers  that  Mike  put  into  the  service  was 
that  after  they  got  their  bounty  money  they  lost  their  enthusi- 
asm and  faded  from  view,  like  an  evanescent  mist. 

Mike  made  much  money  out  of  his  bounty-jumpers,  but 
lost  a  good  deal  of  it  gambling.  At  this  time  he  trained  with 
"Tip"  Farrell,  Charley  Miller,  John  Sutton  and  Matt  Duffy, 
who  figured  more  or  less  in  the  police  records  of  that  time. 
Sutton  was  shot  and  killed  in  front  of  Pete  Page's  saloon,  on 
Clark  street,  in  1864. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  war  McDonald  and  a  notorious  St. 
Paul  crook  lost  $600  in  the  famous  game  that  Colonel  Cameron 
was  running  in  Chicago.  McDonald  found  out  that  the  cards 
were  stocked  against  him,  and  it  discouraged  him  with  having 
anything  more  to  do  with  poker  playing  from  the  front  of  the 
table.  Colonel  Cameron  had  taught  him,  at  the  expense  of 
$600,  that  the  money  in  gambling  was  in  running  the  game, 
not  playing  it.  From  that  day  Mike  McDonald  never  gambled. 
He  straightway  opened  his  own  game. 

With  Dave  Oaks  he  started  a  game  of  faro  at  89  Dearborn 
street.  It  was  a  nice,  little,  modest  game,  with  only  those  two 
as  the  entire  crew  of  the  place.     They  took  turn  alternate  days 


584  LIFE  OF  MICHAEL  C.  McDOXALD 

as  dealer  and  roper  in.    The  suckers  who  played  the  gane  u?ed 
to  complain  frequently  that  the  firm  of    Oaks  &  McDonald 
Avorked  sleight-of-hand  tricks  with  the  faro  deck,  and  the  un- 
kind police  used  to  raid  the  game  every  day. 
Solved  Gambling  Problem. 

This  frequent  raiding  cut  frightfully  into  the  profits  of  the 
enterprising  firm  of  Oaks  &  McDonald,  and  set  the  junior  mem- 
ber thinking  again.  He  had  already  solved  the  great  problem 
that  it  is  better  to  run  a  brace  game  than  to  play  one,  but  he 
found  there  were  thorns  even  in  running  a  game.  Therefore 
he  set  to  work  to  discover  how  tliese  thorns  could  be  removed. 

The  thorns  that  beset  his  career  as  a  gambler  were  the  po- 
lice. But  the  police  acted  under  instructions  from  the  chief 
of  police.  The  chief  of  police  acted  under  instructions  from 
the  administration.  Therefore,  McDonald  figured  out  that  he 
would  have  to  control  the  administration.  So  he  straightway 
blossomed  out  as  a  politician,  and  grew  in  importance  until 
finally  he  ruled  Chicago,  and  realized  the  great  ambition  of  his 
life,  to  make  and  unmake  things  like  chiefs  of  police,  with  a 
curt  nod  of  his  head. 

Once  Euled  All  Chicago. 

Mike  McDonald  never  got  over  his  hatred  for  the  police 
that  was  born  in  tlie  days  when  they  used  to  raid  his  little 
game  at  89  Dearborn  street.  He  probably  would  have  abol- 
ished the  police  department  entirely  when  he  finally  found 
himself  on  the  throne  of  Chicago,  had  it  not  been  that  he  found 
the  police  useful  in  making  the  other  fellows  behave,  while  he 
could  do  as  he  pleased.  And  then,  it  was  such  a  joy  to  make 
the  police  bend  the  knee  and  acknowledge  him  as  Lord  and 
Master. 

Generally  the  superintendents  of  police  knew  what  was  ex- 
pected of  them  before  they  accepted  the  office,  but  oncp  in  a 
while  one  of  them  had  foolish  notions  about  duty  and  law, 
and  had  to  be  taught  his  place.  Poor  old  Simon  O'Donnell, 
when   he  became   superintendent  of   police,   in   the   days   when 


KING  OF  GAMBLERS  585 

Mike  McDonald  ran  "The  Store"'  and  ruled  Chicago,  got  the 
idea,  because  of  numerous  complaints  of  many  patrons  of  the 
gambling  games  in  ''The  Store/'  that  the  place  should  be 
raided.     So  he  raided  it. 

It  was  a  most  impious  act.  It  was  like  laying  hands  on  the 
Ark  of  the  Covenant.  Superintendent  Simon  O'Donnell  lost 
his  job  so  quickly  it  made  his  head  ache,  and  William  J.  Mc- 
Garigle,  whom  McDonald  afterward  made  warden  of  the  county 
hospital,  and  who  was  indicted  and  convicted  of  boodling,  was 
installed  as  superintendent  of  police  in  place  of  the  simple- 
minded  Mr.  O'Donnell. 

Mike  McDonald's  hatred  and  contempt  for  the  police  is 
preserved  in  a  joke  that  the  few  minstrel  companies  still  left 
on  earth  continue  to  cherish  as  one  of  their  best  beloved  jests. 
It  originated  with  McDonald.  One  day,  when  he  was  in  the 
zenith  of  his  power,  a  man  came  into  "The  Store"  with  a  sub-' 
scription  list. 

^The  boys  are  raising  a  little  money,  Mike,"  said  the  man. 
."We'd  like  to  have  you  give  something.  We  are  putting  our 
names  down  for  $3  apiece." 

"What's  it  for?"  asked  Mike,  suspiciously. 

"Why,"  answered  the  man,  considerably  confused.  "We're 
burying  a  policeman." 

"Fine,"  said  Mike.     "Here's  $10;  go  and  bury  five  uf  "em." 
Near  to  Penitentiary. 

While  Mike  was  running  tlie  place  at  89  Dearborn  street 
he  became  involved  in  an  affair  that  put  him  in  jail  for  three 
months  and  made  the  portals  of  the  penitentiary  loom  up 
largely  across  his  path.  It  looked  for  a  time  as  if  his  career 
was  about  to  be  nipped  in  the  3^oung  bud. 

In  1869  Charles  Goodwin,  assistant  cashier  of  the  Chicago 
Dock  Company,  was  found  to  be  a  defaulter  to  the  extent  of 
$30,000.  He  fled  from  Chicago  and  went  to  California,  but  in 
a  few  months  came  back  and  surrendered  himself  to  the  au- 
thorities. 


586  LIFE  OF  MICHAEL  C.  McDONALD 

He  testified  that  McDonald  had  lured  him  into  the  game 
at  89  Dearborn  street,  where  he  had  played  and  lost  his  money 
in  a  series  of  brace  games  that  lasted  during  a  period  of  several 
weeks.  At  first  he  lost  a  few  hundred  dollars,  and  he  was  per- 
suaded to  go  back  to  the  Dock  company's  office  and  get  money 
out  of  the  safe  in  order  that  he  could  return  the  next  evening 
and  win  back  the  money  he  had  lost. 

He  never  won  anything  back,  but  kept  getting  in  deeper. 
At  length  the  poor,  deluded  victim  was  told  to  make  a  big  haul 
and  skip  the  town.  He  made  a  last  pull  at  the  strong  box  for 
$15,000  or  $18,000,  and  his  friends  at  89  Dearborn  street  let 
him  play  one  last  farewell  game,  at  which  they  took  the  trouble 
to  see  that  the  boy  should  not  be  bothered  in  his  flight  from 
justice  by  lugging  a  big  bag  full  of  money  around  with  him. 
Case  Finally  "Fixed." 

McDonald  was  arrested,  and  the  Dock  company  also  pro- 
ceeded against  him  civilly,  as  it  was  not  certain  he  could  bo 
held  on  a  criminal  charge  owing  to  tlie  guarded  manner  in 
which  he  had  conducted  his  operation.  McDonald  was  put 
under  bail  of  $60,000,  and,  being  unable  to  supply  it,  re- 
mained in  jail  for  several  months.  Things  were  finally  "fixed" 
all  right,  though.  A  few  days  before  his  trial  he  was  released 
from  jail,  John  Corcoran  and  Alderman  Tom  Foley  going  on 
his  bail  bond. 

The  trial  was  a  farce.  All  the  gamblers,  "con"  men,  bunko 
steerers  and  strong-arm  men  in  Chicago  lined  up  in  court  and 
told  how  the  defaulting  clerk  had  begged  to  be  permitted  to 
play  the  brace  game,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  that  most  of 
his  money  had  been  spent  on  wine,  women  and  song.  The  jury 
solemnly  declared   McDonald  innocent. 

The  expense  of  his  trial  on  the  charge  of  stealing  the  Dock 
company's  $30,000  had  made  McDonald  poor,  and  he  had  to 
get  out  and  do  a  little  "hustling."  Soon  after  his  release  from 
the  county  jail  John  Donaldson,  a  California  gambler  and  a 
high  roller,  made  a  winning  in  McDonald's  place  of  $2,800  at 


KING  OF  GAMBLEES  587 

poker.  He  took  the  money  back  to  the  hotel  with  him  and  was 
robbed  of  it  and  $500  besides  before  he  had  been  in  bed  ten 
minutes. 

A  cracksman  by  the  name  of  Travers  was  convicted  of  the 
crime. 

Donaldson  used  to  go  to  Joliet  every  day  or  two  to  inter- 
view Travers.  Finally  he  came  back  from  Joliet  and  never 
ate  nor  slept  until  he  had  run  McDonald  down.  Tweaking  his 
nose  he  shouted: 

"Travers  has  confessed.  You  are  a  thief.  You  are  a  coward. 
Within  twenty  minutes  after  I  was  robbed  you  were  dividing 
ray  $2,700  with  Travers  and  his  pal." 

McDonald  did  not  deny  the  charge  or  strike  back  at  Donald- 
son, as  the  latter  apparently  hoped  he  would.  Donaldson  was 
a  slight  man,  almost  dead  with  consumption,  but  he  was  famous 
as  a  man  killer,  and  while  with  one  hand  he  tweaked  McDon^ 
aid's  nose,  the  other  hand  was  jammed  down  in  his  coat  pocket, 
and  McDonald  knew  that  if  he  made  a  move  or  said  a  word 
he  was  a  dead  man. 

Donaldson's  hatred  for  McDonald  became  a  mania  with  him. 
He  was  a  doomed  man,  anyhow,  and  he  wanted  to  kill  McDon- 
ald before  he  went.  So  for  the  three  years  before  death  finally 
claimed  him  he  would  drag  himself  about  the  streets  until  he 
could  stand  in  front  of  his  enemy  and  slap  him  in  the  face  and 
curse  him,  and  beg  him  to  raise  his  hand  or  say  a  word,  or  give 
him  the  slightest  pretext  for  killing  him.  It  was  a  great  relief 
to  McDonald  when  grim  death  finally  claimed  Donaldson. 

EiSEs  IN  His  Profession. 
After  the  fire  McDonald  opened  a  place  on  State  street,  in 
partnership  with  Nick  Geary,  a  celebrated  thief,  who  was  sub- 
sequently killed  in  Philadelphia.  McDonald  next  moved  to 
the  West  Side,  and  was  taken  in  by  John  Dowling,  who  gave 
him  a  third  interest  in  his  game  in  consideration  of  indem- 
nity  against   police    interference,  McDonald's  political  star  at 


588 


LIFE  OF  MICHAEi:  (\   M. DONALD 


ihis  time  being  on  the  rise.     The  firm  cleared  $100,000  in  less 
than  a  year. 

About  this  time  McDonald  formed  a  partnership  with  Harry 
Lawrence  and  Morris  Martin,  and  for  four  or  five  years  they 
had  supreme  control  of  ilie  bnnko  business.     None  others  could 


work  excepting  those  who  took  the  trouble  to  see  the  firm  of 
MeDoiiahl,  Martin  &  Lawrence.  Among  the  gang  who  worked 
under  the  protection  of  the  firm  were  Tom  Wallace,  John  Wal- 
lace, "Snitzer,  the  Kid/'  John  ^fartin,  ^^Snapper  Johnny," 
•'Kid  ^Miller,--'  "Sir  Jame>;'"  Arlington,  or  Gannon,  "Appetite 
Bill,"'  and  "Hungiy  Joe." 

There  is  no  telling  how  much  money  these  individuals  took 
away  from  the  unsuspecting  public,  but  it  is  estimated  at  over 
$1,000,000.  Of  this,  20  per  cent  went  to  the  police,  40  per 
cent  to  the  roper,  and  40  per  cent  to  the  firm.  The  latter  fur- 
nished straw  bail,  witnesses  and  juries,  and  other  protection, 
and  the  confidence  gangs  reported  to  it  and  received  orders.  In 
1875  "White  Pine"  Martin  shot  and  killed  "Sir  James"  Gan- 
non in  front  of  "The  Store"  while  c[uarreling  over  the  division 
of  the  proceeds  of  some  job. 

Throne  in  "The  Stoee." 

The  firm  of  McDonald,  Lawrence  and  Martin  had  opened 
up  the  resort  known  as  "The  Store"  on  Clark  street,  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  Monroe  street,  where  the  Hamilton  Club 
stands  today.  The  first  floor  was  operated  as  a  saloon,  and  the 
floors  above  as  gambling  rooms.  x\fter  public  sentiment  became 
aroused  over  the  bunko  business  of  the  firm,  Lawrence  and 
Martin  drew  out,  leaving  IMcDonald  to  run  "The  Store"  alone. 

"The  Store"  was  the  most  famous  place  in  Chicago  in  those 
days.  It  was  not  only  the  rendezvous  of  all  the  sporting  men, 
politicians  and  denizens  of  the  underworld  in  Chicago,  but  it 
•was  virtually  the  city  hall,  for  from  his  little*  office  in  "The 
Store"  McDonald  managed  the  affairs  of  the  city. 

Every  form  of  gambling  known  flourished  on  that  wonderful 
■second  floor.  The  most  expert  manipulators  of  cards  that  ever 
dealt  a  second  or  shifted  a  cold  deck  sat  behind  the  tables. 
They  were  Clif  Doherty,  Frank  Gallon,  Billy  Tyler,  Charles 
Winship  and  George  ISToyse. 

High-ball  poker,  in  which  the  roller  holds  the  high  ball  in 
liis  fist  and  rolls  it  to  the  cappers  continuously,  and  faro,  with 


590  LIFE  OF  MICHAEL  C.  McDONALD 

fifty-three  cards  in  the  deck,  so  that  the  odd  could  be  dealt, 
were  said  to  have  always  prevailed  in  "The  Store." 

"There  never  was  an  honest  card  dealt  in  the  place,"  is  the 
epitaph  one  old-time  gambler  has  written  on  its  dead  pro- 
prietor. 

Big  as  the  place  was,  it  was  always  crowded.  McDonald  is 
said  to  have  coined  a  very  common  phrase  when,  on  one  occa- 
sion, one  of  his  dealers  protested  against  putting  in  more  tables 
and  increasing  the  size  of  the  gambling  rooms. 

"I  tell  you,  Mike,"  he  said,  "we  won't  have  enough  players 
to  fill  up  all  the  games." 

"Ah,  don't  worry,"  McDonald  is  said  to  have  replied,  "there's 
a  sucker  born  every  minute." 

In  politics  McDonald's  first  great  triumph  was  when  he 
elected  Colvin  mayor  on  the  democratic  ticket.  Then  he  put 
the  elder  Harrison  in  the  mayoralty  chair,  and  after  that  he 
had  plain  sailing.  His  control  lasted  during  the  entire  Harri- 
son administration  of  eight  years.  In  all  that  time  there  was 
no  bigger  man  in  Chicago  than  Mike  McDonald. 

The  only  time  he  met  with  a  serious  set-back  was  in  1883, 
when  he  tried  to  elect  William  J.  McGarigle,  then  chief  of 
police,  sheriff  of  Cook  county. 

The  Big  Courthouse  "Job." 

Another  disappointment  of  McDonald's  political  career  was 
when  he  got  a  bill  past  the  county  commissioners  and  city 
aldermen  authorizing  Harry  Holland  to  paint  the  outside  of  the 
City  Hall  and  County  Building  with  a  mixture  which  was 
guaranteed  to  prevent  the  stone  from  decaying. 

Holland  applied  his  marvelous  preparation,  but  when  tlie 
time  came  to  pay  the  bill  a  newspaper  man,  John  J.  Lane, 
who  died  only  the  other  day  in  St.  Louis,  had  dug  up  evidence 
tending  to  show  that  Holland's  preparation  was  nothing  but 
water  and  chalk,  and  not  quite  so  efficacious  in  preventing  the 
decay  of  stone  as  prune  juice  or  ice  cream  would  have  been, 
but  much  cheaper.     The  county  has  never  yet  paid  the  $80,000 


KING  OF  GAMBLERS  591 

that  Holland  wanted  for  the  job  on  the  county  building. 

After  the  close  of  the  Harrison  administration  a  new  day 
began  in  Chicago.  The  independent  voter  broke  the  power  of 
party  bosses.  Mike  McDonald's  rule  was  broken.  He  could 
no  longer  do  what  he  pleased  with  city  administrations  and  be 
unofficial  chief  of  police. 

He  bowed  pleasantly  to  the  inevitable,  and  stepped  down  and 
out.  He  was  wise  in  that  he  saw  the  handwriting  on  the  wall, 
and  gracefully  submitted  instead  of  "kicking  against  the 
pricks"  and  wasting  his  time  and  his  money,  as  did  other 
gamblers  and  sports,  who  were  finally  crushed  out  simply  be- 
cause they  could  not  recognize  that  new  conditions  and  new* 
men  had  come. 

McDonald  quit  every  sphere  of  his  old  life  and  went  into 
business. 

It  was  he  who,  with  William  Fitzgerald,  built  the  first  ele- 
vated road  in  town,  the  Lake  street  "L."  Then,  in  1891,  he 
thought  he  would  like  to  be  an  editor.  He  bought  control  of 
the  Globe,  a  daily  morning  paper,  and  ran  it  for  over  two 
years.  It  was  not  a  financial  success,  and  finally  McDonakl 
gave  it  up.  "I  guess  I  was  never  cut  out  for  a  literary  man," 
was  his  laughing  remark.  ^'There  are  other  things  I  know 
more  about." 

Domestic  Life  Rough. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  about  McDonald's  domestic  un- 
happiness,  but  it  was  not  until  his  body  had  been  buried  that 
the  truth  was  known.  , 

His  first  wife  was  Mary  Noonan,  whom  he  married  in  the 
days  when  '^''The  Store"  was  the  sporting  and  political  Mecca 
of  Chicago. 

It  was  a  great  scandal  in  the  community  later  when  she  sud- 
denly disappeared,  and  it  was  reported  that  she  had  run  away 
with  "Billy"  Arlington,  a  minstrel  man.  It  was  the  greater 
shock  because  her  devotion  and  loyalty  to  McDonald  had  been 
the  talk  of  the  town. 


592  LIFE  OF  MICHAEL  C.  McDONALD 

One  time  she  had  stood,  with  a  pistol,  in  her  husband's 
gambling  house,  and  defied  the  police  when  they  raided  the 
place  under  instruction  of  some  blundering  chief  of  police,  who 
did  not  realize  that  he  was  toying  with  the  lightning  when  he 
laid  violent  hands  on  anything  that  belonged  to  McDonald. 
Mary  McDonald  had  held  her  ground  at  the  door  in  "The 
Store,'"  and  declared  she  would  shoot  the  first  policeman  that 
attempted  to  enter.  She  was  as  good  as  her  word,  and  one  of 
the  officers  was  carried  to  a  hospital  with  a  bullet  through  hi? 
arm.  Mrs.  McDonald,  through  hfer  husband's  pull,  was  nev.T 
prosecuted. 

McDonald  went  to  San  Francisco  and  brought  his  wife  back 
and  installed  her  in  the  house  he  had  built  at  Ashland  avenue 
and  Harrison  street,  considered  in  those  days  a  veritable  palace. 
McDonald  gave  it  out  to  the  world  that  he  had  built  the  man- 
sion for  his  wife,  and  his  taking  her  back  after  she  was  re- 
puted to  have  run  away  with  another  man  was  accepted  as  a 
wonderful  instance  of  his  great-heartedness  and  magnanimity. 
Sam  Barclay  Tells  "How  Mike  McDonald's  Coix  Wox 
Dora  Away." 

"Sam"  Barclay  (Harry  is  supposed  to  have  been  his  baptis- 
mal name)  was  one  of  the  great  ball  players  of  the  long  ago, 
and  the  shadows  of  the  drama  that  wrecked  his  life  are,  there- 
fore, interwoven  with  the  world  of  sport,  and  even  with  the 
career  of  Charles  Comiskey,  "the  master  of  the  White  Sox." 

Barclay,  a  trim  and  graceful  fellow,  came  into  prominence 
twenty  years  ago  and  played  with  Pittsburg  and  St.  Louis. 
At  St.  Louis  he  was  under  the  command  of  Comiskey,  who 
therefore  knew  him  well,  and  was  always  interested  in  his 
doings. 

On  two  or  three  occasions  quarrels  over  the  contracts  of  Sam 
Barclay  nearly  wrecked  organized  base  ball.  He  was  a  won- 
derful second  baseman,  and  one  of  the  fastest  and  most  scien- 
tific players  of  the  day. 

In  1889  Barclay's  knee  went  back  on  him,  and,  while  he  re- 


KlSii   OK  (iAMBT-EKS 


59^ 


gained  full  iise  of  the  leg,  lie  was  never  fast  enongh  to  play 
his  former  game.  He  alstj  began  to  take  on  flesh,  and  was 
glad  to  retire  from   the  diamond. 

Opens  Saloox  tx  Ciiicago. 

Coming  to  Chicago,  Barclay  opened  a  saloon  oji  West  Madi- 
son street.  Back  in  1894,  West  Madison,  from  Halsted  to 
Elizabeth,  was  the  real  red-light  district,  fitll  of  saloons  and 
concert  halls.  Barclay's  place  was  the  headquarters  of  revelry, 
hut  Sam  himself  kept  a  good  name  for  personal  honesty  and  un- 
bounded generosity  to  his  friends. 

When  the  red-lights  ^vent  out  on  Madison  street,  Sam  leased 
a  saloon  at  15  i^orth  Clark,  where  for  some  time  he  held  the 
same  kind  of  swav  lie  liad  maintained  west  of  I  he  river.     This 


594  LIFE  OF  MICHAEL  C.  McDONALD 

place  was  ultimately  lost,  and  he  went  over  in  Garfield  park 
district,  without  much  success. 

"Sam"  Barclay,  former  husband  of  Mrs.  "Mike"  McDonald 
II,  451  West  Lake  street,  freely  discussed  his  life  with  Mrs. 
McDonald. 

It  was  an  interesting  story,  in  which  he  told  of  Mrs.  McDon- 
ald's attempt  to  commit  suicide  once  in  Kansas  City,  of  brawls 
in  his  saloon,  the  "Half  Moon,"  and  of  how  "Mike"  McDonald, 
assisted  by  "Bunk"  Allen,  lured  his  wife  away  from  him.  Here 
is  what  he  said : 

"They  have  printed  stories  that  are  not  true  about  this  case. 
Mrs.  McDonald's  mother  was  a  Mrs.  Feldman,  who  at  one  time 
lived  at  619  Harrison  street.  At  the  time  I  knew  her  Mrs. 
Feldman  had  been  divorced  from  her  husband  and  he  was 
living  in  the  Ghetto. 

Likely  Lad  of  200  Pounds. 

"It  was  in  "89  that  I  met  Dora.  I  was  in  the  Kansas  City 
ball  team,  and  was  a  likely  lad.  I  weighed  200  pounds,  trained 
down,  and  it  was  a  good  man  who  was  able  to  floor  me. 

"Dora  came  to  visit  her  brother-in-law  in  Kansas  City.  He 
is  Dick  Vaughn,  and  a  very  good  "pal"  of  mine.  I  met  her 
there  at  his  house. 

"We  took  a  liking  to  each  other,  so  I  used  to  have  her  in  the 
best  seat  every  day  at  the  games  when  we  played  on  home 
grounds. 

"And  she  never  was  slow,  I  tell  you,  of  giving  me  credit 
Avhen  I  made  a  double  play  or  lined  out  a  hot  one. 
Nothing  Like  Eeal  Love. 

"Well,  the  season  came  to  a  close.  I  liked  the  kid,  but  I 
didn't  feel  nothing  like  real  love  for  her.  I  was  going  to  leave 
Kansas  City,  and  nothing  was  said  about  taking  her  with  rac. 
I  noticed  that  big  tears  came  in  her  eyes  when  I  told  her.  but 
she  didn't  say  much.  That  night  they  sent  for  me.  They  told 
me  that  Dora  was  dying. 

"I  got  to  Vaughn's  house  and  found  her  unconscious.     She 


KING  OF  GAMBLEES  595 

had  taken  laudanum,  the  doctor  said.  She  was  in  a  stupor, 
The  first  chance  I  got,  I  asked  her  what  was  the  matter,  and 
she  said  to  me,  as  the  tears  rolled  down  her  cheeks : 

"  'I  don't  want  to  be  left  alone/ 

"That,  you  know,  touched  me.  We  got  married.  I've  got 
the  license  right  here.  It  was  all  doped  up  by  a  fellow  in  the 
Washingtonian  Home,  who  thought  he  owed  a  lot  to  me.  He 
certainly  did  some  fine  pen  and  ink  decorating  with  birds,  and 
shadings  and  such  things. 

"So,  after  I  quit  the  national  game,  I  went  into  the  saloon 
business  at  293  "West  Madison  street,  first,  and  then  started  the 
'Half  Moon.' 

"I'll  tell  you  the  truth  about  how  Dora  met  Mike  McDon- 
ald. She  went  to  McVicker's  theater  one  day  with  Harry 
Summers,  who  is  now  treasurer  of  the  Illinois  theater. 

"Dora  was  with  Mrs.  Elliott.     She  used  to  be  a  model  in 
Eyan's  store,  at  Madison  and  Peoria  streets.     Summers  intro- 
duced Dora  to  Mike  McDonald,  and  th.  "^'s  the  way  they  started. 
Day  of  Harrison  FuisTfiRAL. 

"Well  I  remember  the  time — it  v,'as  on  the  day  that  Carter 
Harrison's  funeral  went  past  the  house,  at  319  Washington 
boulevard,  wh.-^e  we  were  living  at  that  time. 

"  'I  met  an  old  gentleman  today  who  has  lots  of  money/ 
Dora  said  to  me,  as  we  looked  out  of  the  window. 

"  'It's  funny  how  a  man  gets  up  in  the  world  and  then  loses 
it  all  when  he's  laid  away  in  the  narrow  box,'  I  said,  keeping 
my  eyes  on  the  hearse. 

"I  was  thinking,  then,  but  not  about  what  my  wife  said. 
Afterward  the  words  came  to  me,  but  I  didn't  realize  the  mean- 
ing of  her  expression  or  what  it  had  in  store  for  me  then. 
Deep  Game  Well  Played. 

"A  few  years  passed.  They  went  quick,  then.  Money  made 
the  time  fly,  and  Dora  certainly  was  a  spender.  Then  one  night 
they  pulled  off  the  game  that  was  to  separate  us  and  give 
Mike  McDonald  a  young  wife. 


596  LIFE  OF  MICHAEL  C.  McDONALD 

"I  was  boozy  with  wine.  Bill  Hoffman  and  'Bunk'  Allen 
were  masters  of  the  ceremonies.  They  bundled  me  in  a  cab 
and  drove  me  to  a  place  on  Wood  street.  Detectives  came  in, 
and  my  wife,  too,  and  they  there  and  then  laid  the  basis  of 
the  divorce  suit  which  ended  the  game  between  Dora  and  I." 

Barclay  then  told  of  a  fight  in  his  saloon,  in  which  one  man 
was  almost  killed  and  another  badly  wounded.     Then  he  said : 

"That's  how  they  wound  up  the  'Half  Moon.'  Jimmy  Quinn 
said  he  was  my  friend,  but  he  stabbed  me  in  the  back.  I  was 
getting  too  strong  in  politics,  so  he  got  me  and  I  was  put  down 
and  out." 

Barclay  had  seemed  perfectly  happy  with  her,  but  one  night 

when  he  was  living  in  rooms  over  his  saloon  at  15  IlTorth  Clark 

street  he  learned  that  Mike  McDonald  had  come  into  her  life, 

and  it  Avas  not  long  before  the  ball  player's  romance  was  ended. 

Wife  Gets  Divorce. 

Mrs.  Barclay  obtained  a  divorce — with  McDonald's  money, 
so  Barclay  always  said — and  the  ball  player  was  left  alone. 
The  blow  proved  his  utter  undoing.  Barclay  lost  ambition  and 
energy.  He  spent  hours  in  his  rooms,  gazing  mutely  at  a  huge 
crayon  portrait  of  his  wife,  taken  a  year  before  she  left  him. 
and  he  seemed  to  have  no  desire  or  ability  left  for  business. 
Second  Wedding  in  Milwaukee. 

Mrs.  Barclay  was  married  to  McDonald  in  Milwaukee.  At 
the  time  she  Avas  in  the  chorus  of  the  Chicago  Opera  House. 
Her  mother  is  Mrs.  Fanny  Feldman,  338  South  Marshfield 
avenue.  She  has  two  brothers,  Harry  and  Emil  Feldman,  both 
known  in  West  Side  political  circles.  Harry  Feldman  was  em- 
ployed in  the  city  clerk's  office  during  William  Loeffler's  term. 

When  McDonald  took  his  new  wife  to  his  house  on  Ashland 
boulevard  there  was  a  red-hot  family  row.  Guy,  the  elder  of 
the  two  sons  of  McDonald,  had  a  pitched  battle  with  her,  and 
the  fight  was  carried  into  the  street.  The  boy  was  victorious 
at  first,  but  his  father  sided  with  the  stepmother,  and  eventu- 
allv  the  bov  left  home. 


KING  OF  GAMBLERS  597 

Harold  Barclay,  10  years  old,  Mrs.  McDonald's  son  by  her 
first  marriage,  was  adopted  by  McDonald,  and  with,  his  two 
sons,  Cassius  and  Guy  McDonald,  has  an  equal  share  in  the 
estate. 

Induces  Husbaxd  to  Disinherit  Son. 

Shortly  after  her  marriage  to  McDonald,  Dora  became  angry 
at  her  husband's  son,  Harley.  The  latter  objected  to  his  father 
contracting  further  matrimonial  alliances,  and  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  say  so.  Mrs.  McDonald  prevailed  upon  her  husband  to 
disinherit  the  son,  and  later,  of  her  own  initiative,  caused  the 
arrest  of  the  young  man. 

The  charge  was  threats  against  her  life.  The  case  came  up 
at  the  old  Armory  police  court,  and  the  young  man  was  placed 
under  bonds  to  keep  the  peace. 

The  breach  between  father  and  son  is  said  never  to  have 
healed.  Young  McDonald  went  into  the  sign  painting  business 
soon  after  the  episode. 

Guy  married  Miss  Pearl  Flower,  and  lives  in  Chicago.  Mrs. 
McDonald  once  had  Guy  McDonald  arrested  on  the  charge  of 
writing  threatening  and  obscene  letters. 

The  ease  was  hotly  fought  in  the  United  States  court.  A 
juryman,  and  warm  personal  friend  of  Mike  McDonald,  saved 
him  from  conviction,  which  would  have  carried  with  it  a  peni- 
tentiary sentence. 

The  Sting  and  Curse  of  Ill-Gotten  Money. 

"Mike"  McDonald,  the  king  of  gamblers,  was  buried  like  a 
king  of  men.  There  were  flowers,  tears,  friends,  orations  and 
processions.  But  as  clothes  are  not,  neither  is  a  funeral,  an  in- 
dex to  character — nor  even  is  the  obituary  column. 

Strangers,  reading  the  story  of  the  last  day  above  the  sod 
of  McDonald's  body,  might  has  thought  that  Chicago  had  lost 
a  leading  good  citizen.  They  were  told  that  McDonald  had 
amassed  wealth,  but  they  were  not  told  how  he  got  it.  They 
read  of  the  great  men  whom  he  had  befriended,  but  they  were 
not  told  of  the  men  whom  he  had  ruined.     They  were  not  told 


598  LIFE  OF  MICHAEL  C.  McDONx\LD 

that  Mike  McDonald  living,  had  violated  the  laws  of  the  land, 
of  society  and  of  the  home. 

"Mike'^  McDonald  died  worth  a  million  dollars.  A  young 
man  beginning  life,  familiar  only  with  the  post-mortem,  story  of 
McDonald,  and  seeing  no  condemnation  of  his  method  of  get- 
ting rich,  might  feel  encouraged  to  hold  to  the  idea  that  the 
accumulation  of  money  bars  all  criticism  for  the  way  it  is  ac- 
quired. 

Though  the  publicity  of  cold  type  has  put  no  brand  on  the 
dead  McDonald,  the  story  of  "Mike"  McDonald's  life  and  for- 
tune is  not  yet  finished. 

Suppose  he  did  die  worth  a  million  dollars,  whom  will  it 
benefit?    What  good  will  it  do? 

There  will  be  a  fight  in  every  dollar,  a  quarrel  in  every 
penny. 

There  Mdll  be  a  strife  among  men  and  women  over  this  for- 
tune. 

Much  of  it  will  go  to  lawyers  to  defend  a  woman  charged 
with  murder.  Much  more  of  it  will  go  to  other  lawyers  who 
will  try  to  break  his  will.  As  McDonald's  money  was  ill-got- 
ten, so  will  it  be  spent  to  no  good  purpose. 

In  a  few  years  McDonald  will  be  forgotten  except  by  those 
whom  in  life  he  ruined.  His  fortune  will  be  gone.  No  one 
will  remember  him  for  the  good  he  did,  if  he  did  any  good. 

Let  not  "Mike"  McDonald's  success  in  securing  money  en- 
courage you  to  follow  his  method. 

If  you,  young  man,  had  an  opportunity  of  entering  a  gam- 
bling venture,  with  a  certainty  of  securing  for  yourself  a  for- 
tune of  a  million  dollars,  you  Avould  be  a  fool  to  take  advan- 
tage of  that  opportimity. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  life  of  even  a  successful  gambler 
worth  imitating  and  nothing  that  he  does  worth  admiring. 

"Mike"  McDonald  may  liave  been  better  than  the  ordinary 
class  of  gamblers,  but  the  occasional  good  deeds  that  men  of 


KING  OF  GAMBLERS  599 

Ninety-nine  gamblers  out  of  a  hundred  that  amass  fortunes 
die  paupers.  The  money  that  a  few  accumulate,  even  as  Mc- 
Donald did,  is,  as  a  rule,  a  curse  to  those  that  inherit  it. 

But  if  McDonald  had  sense — and  we  believe  he  did  have 
sense — in  the  closing  years  of  his  life  he  cursed  the  day  when 
he  started  on  a  career  that  wrecked  him,  socially  and  morally, 
and  left  him  in  his  dying  hour  a  bankrupt  in  everything  but 
the  possession  of  a  few  hundrexl  thousand  dollars,  which  he 
could  not  take  beyond  the  grave. 

And  what  has  happened  after  McDonald's  death,  and  what 
will  happen  in  the  courts  of  law,  Avill  prove  to  men  that  ill- 
gotten  money  carries  a  sting  to-  its  possessor  and  a  curse  to 
those  who  inherit  it. 

WIFE  NO.  1,  WIDOW;  NO.  2,  REPUDIATED. 

Burial  of  "Mike"  M-cDonald  Serves  to  Open  New  Chapter 
IN  His  Troubles — Old  Scandals  Denied. 

Mary    Noonan    Now    Clai.ms    Innocence    and    Fights    to 
Prove  Divorce  Illegal. 

The  grave  out  at  Mount  Olivet  that  closed  over  the  body  of 
"Mike"  McDonald  refused  a  final  sanctuary  to  the  life-tragedy 
of  the  political  boss  and  millionaire  gambling  king. 

The  same  hand  of  death  that  closed  his  eyes  on  his  triumphs 
and  afflictions  raised  the  curtain  on  an  unforseen  last  act  in 
this  drama  of  Chicago  life. 

In  this  new  part  of  the  plot  Mrs.  Dora  Feldman  McDonald, 
who  turned  the  old  gambler's  head  and  broke  his  heart  through 
the  shooting  of  Webster  Guerin,  appears  as  a  wife  solemnly 
repudiated  in  death-bed  rites.  A.t  the  same  time  Mrs.  Mary 
Noonan  McDonald,  the  divorced  and  exiled  first  wife,  steps  upon 
the  scene  to  cleanse  her  name  of  the  scandals  to  which  it  has 
been  linked  for  twenty  years. 

While  the  two  wives  and  the  relatives  stood  before  the  coffin 


m)  LIFE  OK  MICHAEL  V.  McDONALD 

it  ranu'  out  that  :\IcDonald,  shortly  before  his  death  at  St.  An- 
thony de  Padua  hospital,  had  uttered  a  formal  repudiation  of 
his  second  marriage,  in  the  presence  of  the  Eev.  Maurice  J. 
Dorney,  pastor  of  St.  Gabriel's  Catholic  Church,  and  several 
witnesses,  in  the  persons  of  hospital  attendants.  This  having 
been  done,  McDonald  was  permitted  the  last  sacraments  of  the 
church  and  burial  under  the  Eoman  ritual. 

First  Wife  Denies  Charges. 

As  the  second  wife  passed  under  the  ban,  the  first  one  came 
forward  to  claim  that  of  which  she  had  been  dispossessed  by 
human  passion.  Sitting  in  her  apartment  last  night  at  the 
Vincennes  hotel,  Vincennes  avenue  and  Thirty-sixth  street. 
Mary  Noonan  McDonald  gave  her  version  of  the  romance  anrl 
tragedy  that  have  measured  forty  years  of  her  life. 

"For  the  sake  of  my  two  boys,  it  is  now  my  duty  to  tell  the 
world  the  truth  about  the  slanders  with  which  my  name  has 
been  blackened,"  she  said.  "I  am  not  perfect,  and  I  have  done 
things  for  which  I  am  sorry,  but  I  am  guiltless  of  the  charges 
with  which  I  have  been  hounded  about  the  world  for  twenty 
years.  This  I  can  prove,  and  to  do  so  I  shall  remain  in  Chi- 
cago as  long  as  necessary." 

Eepudiation  of  Second  Wife. 

Tt  was  after  the  solemn  requiem  mass  over  McDonald's  body 
in  the  Church  of  the  Presentation  that  the  Rev.  Father  Dorney 
consented  to  tell  the  story  of  the  gambler's  dying  repudiation 
of  his  second  wife. 

"I  told  'Mike'  ]\IcDonald  before  his  death,"  said  Father 
Dorney,  "that  in  the  eyes  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  there 
was  no  such  thing  as  divorce;  that  he  had  but  one  wife,  the 
mother  of  his  children — Mary  Xoonan.  T  told  him  he  must 
publicly  repudiate  this  other  woman,  and  only  when  he  said  he 
did  so  could  he  receive  the  last  sacraments,  penance,  holy  eu- 
charist,  and  extreme  unction. 

"Although  he  was  critically  ill,  he  said,  firmly,  that  he  would 
do  as  the  church  wished :  that  ho  was  corrv  for  his  sins,  and  ho 


KlNU  OF  GAMBLERS  601 

wanted  to  receive  the  last  sacraments.  Then,  in  the  presenof 
(if  witnesses,  as  is  required,  he  made  the  repudiation.  Later 
lie  went  to  confession,  but  what  he  told  there  I  can  never  re- 
voal. 

"Afterwards  the  other  woman,  Dora  I'eldman,  came  to  see 
him  at  tlie  hospital,  but  if  he  was  conscious  he  never  recognized 
jier.  He  was  true  to  his  promise,  true  to  his  resolution  to  put 
ho-  out  of  his  life." 

Chuech  Not  Interested  in  Will, 

Father  Dorney's  attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  Mc- 
Donald probably  had  left  a  considerable  portion  of  his  estate 
to  his  second  wife. 

'^'T  suppose  he  did,  but  this  is  a  legal  matter  in  which  the 
church  is  not  interested.  Mike  McDonald  and  Mary  Noonan 
were  legally  married  in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  and  the  church,  in 
a  Catholic  church  edifice.  We  never  recognize  divorce.  Of 
course,  we  know  it  is  impossible  at  times  for  men  and  women 
to  live  together,  and  the  church  permits  them  to  reside  apart, 
but  remarriage  is  impossible  as  long  as  both  of  the  parties 
are  still  alive. 

"McDonald  never  remarried  in  the  eyes  of  the  church,  because 
liis  first  Avife  was  not  dead.  By  his  actions  with  Dora  Feldman 
he  gave  great  scandal,  but  before  his  death  he  repented  of  it.  If 
Dora  Feldman  followed  Mike  McDonald  to  his  grave,  she  could 
not  do  so  from  an  ecclesiastical  standpoint,  and  in  my  sermon 
this  morning  when  I  referred  to  the  wife  of  the  dead  man 
I  meant  Mary  Noonan  McDonald,  the  mother  of  his  children." 
Mrs.  Mary  McDonald  Changed. 

No  greater  contrast  could  be  conceived  than  that  between 
the  woman  reputed  to  have  deserted  her  husband  in  turn  for  a 
renegade  French  priest  and  a  minstrel,  and  the  woman  who 
rose  to  greet  the  interviewer  who  called  at  the  Vincennes  hotel 
for  Mrs.  Mary  Noonan  McDonald.  Twenty  years  of  sorrow 
have  left  snow  white  hair  that  still  crowms  her  head  with  the 
same  wealth   as  that   of  younger   days,   and  twenty   years  of 


602 


LIFE  OF   MICHAEL  r.  McDONALD 


1 


Jt*<;MAEi  c. 


struggle  to  support  herself  have  aulled  the  fire  of  those  gray 
eyes  that  once  looked  over  a  smoking  revolver  with  which  the 
airl  wife  held  at  bay  the  police  raiders  of  her  husband's  gam- 
bling house.  But  the  slender  figure  appeared  as  erect  as  ever, 
though  standing  forth  with  an  added  frailty  beside  her  stal- 
wart, brown-faced  son,  Guy,  and  her  face,  though  pale  and  sad, 
scarcely  confessed  to  her  60  years  of  age. 


KING  OF  GAMBLERS  603 

This  is  the  woman  who  began  her  career  in  Chicago  as  the 
helpmate  of  an  old-time  gambling  king,  and  is  ending  her  days 
in  the  work  of  rescuing  wayward  girls;  this  is  the  woman  who 
was  driven  to  abandon  the  name  of  McDonald  and  bury  her 
identity  for  the  last  fifteen  years  under  the  alias  of  Mrs.  Gras- 
hoff,  holding  comritunication  only  with  her  children  and  secretly 
visiting  Chicago  periodically  to  see  them. 

Tells  Her  Story  at  Last. 

"It  is  sixteen  years  since  I  have  talked  to  a  newspaper  re- 
porter," said  Mrs.  Mary  Noonan  McDonald.  "Again  and  again 
have  I  been  besought  to  tell  my  story,  but  long  ago  I  determined 
to  remain  silent  until  after  the  death  of  ]\Ir.  McDonald.  For 
the  sake  of  my  children's  relations  with  their  father  I  held  my 
peace,  and  now,  for  the  sake  of  my  childrens'  name,  I  have 
decided  to  give  m}''  story  to  the  world. 

"The  lies  that  have  been  printed  about  me  for  the  last  twenty 
years  are  but  a  feeble  testimonial  of  the  tremendous  power 
wielded  by  Mr.  McDonald  and  his  friends.  None  knows  better 
than  I  how  he  made  and  unmade  public  officials,  set  judges  on 
the  bench,  determined  public  politics  in  the  old  days,  and 
fought  his  enemies  with  a  ruthlessness  that  made  him  feared 
far  and  wide.  When  I  became  his  enemy,  I,  too,  began  to  feel 
his  power,  as  it  was  manifested  in  the  public  press. 

"The  lies  have  multiplied  day  by  day,  but  I  have  so  far  re- 
fused to  answer  them.  Only  during  the  last  week  the  papers 
have  said  that  Dora  McDonald,  who  ruined  Mike  McDonald's 
life,  and  I,  met  at  the  bedside  of  the  dying  man.  We  have 
never  met.  The  only  time  I  ever  saw  her  was  in  a  Providence 
(E.  I.)  hotel,  ten  years  ago,  where  I  was  stopping  while  at  a 
convention  of  charities.  We  sat  at  the  same  table,  and  I  heard 
her  say  to  a  girl  with  her  that  I  looked  like  Guy's  mother. 
Then  I  knew  who  she  was.  I  have  not  seen  her  since,  not  even 
at  the  grave  today,  though  I  was  told  she  was  there." 

Guy  McDonald  interposed  to  explain  that  his  stepmother  had 


604  LIFE  OF  MICHAEL  C.  McDONALD 

not  been  allowed  to  attend  the  funeral  service  at  the  church, 
being  taken  directly  to  the  cemetery. 

Says  Charges  Were  Invented. 

"The  statement  I  want  to  make  to  the  world/"  resumed  Mrs. 
McDonald,  "is  that  all  the  stories  told  of  my  conduct  at  the 
time  I  was  separating  from  Mr.  McDonald^  are  absolutely  false, 
and  were  maliciously  invented  and  circulated.  The  trouble  be- 
tween my  husband  and  me  grew  out  of  his  brutality.  He  was 
a  big,  red-blooded  man,  but  when  under  the  influence  of  liquor 
he  was  rough  and  disorderly.  He  often  struck  me  at  such 
times,  and  mistreated  me  in  other  cruel  ways. 

"I  finally  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  could  stand  the  life 
no  longer.  So  I  ran  away.  But  I  went  alone,  and  not  with 
Billy  Arlington,  the  minstrel,  as  the  story  was  told  afterwards. 
I  went  to  San  Francisco  and  visited  with  friends,  and  while 
there  I  met  Arlington.  He  was  only  a  casual  acquaintance,  and 
I  never  saw  him  after  I  left  San  Francisco.  I  went  from  there 
to  Cincinnati,  and  thence  to  New  York,  with  friends.  We 
stopped  at  the  Gilsey  house,  and  there  William  Pinkerton,  Al 
Smith,  the  old-time  gambler,  who  had  a  resort  at  86  Clark, 
and  Mr.  McDonald,  coaxed  me  to  come  back  home. 

""But  it  was  not  long  before  the  old  trouble  bega  ,  again. 
Mr.  McDonald  was  extremely  abusive  when  in  liquor,  .  nd  Mr. 
A.  S.  Trude  will  tell  you  that  I  went  to  his  office  one  day  and 
asked  him  to  get  mc  a  divorce.  He  tried  to  smooth  matters 
over,  and  succeeded  for  a  time. 

No  Chapel  in  House. 

"Then  Ave  went  to  live  in  the  new  house  at  3U8  Ashland 
avenue.  There  my  troubles  began  afresh,  and  grew  until  1888. 
The  newspaper  stories  have  dwelt  at  great  length  on  insinua- 
tions of  my  conduct  with  a  priest  for  whom  I  was  said  to  have 
built  a  chapel  in  my  house.  Nothing  could  l)c  more  preposter- 
ous on  the  face  of  it,  as  any  Eoman  Catholic  will  tell  you.  The 
church  does  not  sanction  the  erection  of  altars,  the  giving  of 
communion,  and  the  receiving  of  confessions  in  private  homes. 


KING  OF  GAMBLERS  (505 

Dispensations  for  temporal}'  masses   can   be  obtained  in  rare 
instances. 

"There  was  a  priest  named  Father  Price,  from  Asheville,  iST. 
C,  who  was  raising  money  for  his  church  in  Chicago.  We 
gave  a  recital  that  netted  him  $500,  after  which  he  was  a  guest 
for  two  weeks  at  our  house. 

"He  obtained  a  dispensation  to  say  mass  a  few  times,  and 
did  so  before  a  temporary  saint's  altar  set  on  a  bureau.  When 
lie  departed  the  altar  went  with  him,  and  that  is  as  close  as  we 
ever  came  to  having  a  private  chapel  in  our  house. 

"The  French  priest  with  whom  I  was  said  to  have  eloped 
was  Father  Moysant.     He  never  said  a  mass  in  our  house,  and 
I  never  knew  him  except  as  one  of  the  priests  of  the  parish 
who  were  entertained  frequently  by  Mr.  McDonald. 
Leaves  Husbaxd;  Goes  to  Sister. 

"I  did  not  run  away  with  Father  Moysant  or  any  other 
])erson,  the  fact  being  that,  unable  to  stand  Mr.  McDonald's 
treatment,  I  left  his  house  in  the  fall  of  1887  and  went  to  live 
with  Mrs.  Peter  McGuire,  whose  house  stood  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Studebaker  building.  I  begged  Mr.  McDonald  to  let 
my  boys  come  to  me,  but  he  refused.  At  the  end  of  three  weeks 
T  went  to  New  York  alone,  sailed  for  Havre,  still  alone,  and 
went  to  visit  my  sister,  Mrs.  Catherine  Phillpot,  who  lived  in 
Paris. 

"I  remained  there  eleven  months  and  returned  to  New  York. 
At  the  Fifth  Avenue  hotel,  where  I  stopped,  I  found  Pinker- 
ton  detectives,  hired  by  Mr.  McDonald,  watching  me.  I  com- 
plained to  Mr.  Philips,  the  house  detective,  of  the  annoyance, 
as  he  will  tell  you.  I  was  traveling  under  the  name  of  Arm- 
strong, my  mother's  maiden  name — she  was  English  and  my 
father,  Irish,  you  know.  The  annoyance  of  the  detectives  be- 
came so  great  that  I  returned  to  Paris  on  the  same  boat  on 
which  I  had  come  to  America.  That  was  the  middle  of  October, 
1888. 

"After  six  months  with  my  sister  iu  Paris  I  returned  directly 


006  LIFE  OF  MICHAEL  C.  McDONALD     , 

to  Chicago.  When  I  arrived  I  found  my  daughter  dead  and 
with  my  own  hands  I  buried  her  bahy  the  next  day.  I  found 
also  that  I  had  been  divorced  by  Mr.  McDonald  in  proceedings 
Ijcfore  Judge  Jamieson,  though  no  notice  ever  was  served  on 
jue." 

Pawns  Her  Diamonds. 

Mrs.  McDouald  spread  out  her  ringless  tingers  significantly, 
and  continued: 

^'I  went  to  a  pawnbroker  that  day  and  sold  my  diamond 
rings,  ear-rings,  and  cross,  and  with  the  proceeds  opened  a 
rooming  house  at  1235  Wabash  avenue.  Mr.  McDonald  often 
came  to  see  me  and  dine  there,  and  it  looked  as  if  there  might 
be  a  reconciliation.  But  soon  after  that  he  met  Dora  Barclay, 
and  from  that  time  we  were  friends  no  longer,  but  bitter  ene- 
mies. 

"The  reputation  of  my  house  was  ruined  by  the  arrest  of 
Mike  Coleman,  alias  Charles  Wilson,  the  safeblower,  who  had 
lived  there  a  few  weeks,  and  at  first  I  thought  Mr.  McDonald 
was  behind  this  plot  to  ruin  me.  I  went  to  the  Animosa,  la., 
penitentiary,  saw  Coleman,  and  learned  that  Mr.  McDonald 
was  innocent.  But  after  that  a  story  was  started  that  I  lived 
with  Coleman  for  years.  I  never  saw  him  after  that  time  at  the 
penitentiary. 

"After  the  World's  Fair  I  removed  to  St.  Louis  and  started 
a  boarding  house  at  2686  Locust  street.  But  soon  Mr.  ^Ic- 
Donald's  detectives  were  hounding  me  there,  the  newspapers 
began  to  print  stories  of  our  troubles,  and  my  business  wa? 
ruined. 

Driven  to  Hide  Identity. 

"I  saw  that  if  I  was  to  live  peacefully  I  must  bury  my  iden- 
tity, and  so,  assuming  the  name  of  Mrs.  Grashoff,  I  went  to 
New  York,  and  obtained  employment  with  the  Board  of  Chari- 
ties at  Fourth  avenue  and  Twenty-third  street,  of  which  ^fr. 
Van  Vordenberg  was  the  head.  For  fifteen  years  I  have  been 
in  (•hnritnl)le  work.     \  founded  the  Destitute  Old  Ladies'  Home 


KING  OF  GAMBLEES  607 

at  Paterson,  ¥.  J.,  and  at  present  my  work  is  with  the  Crit- 
tenden Eepcue  Homes  for  ITnfortunate  Girls.  It  is  not  the  least 
solace  for  my  many  misfortunes  that  I  have  been  able  to  save 
many  girls  from  continuing  their  wayward  careers. 

"So  much  for  the  lies  circulated  about  me  for  twenty  years. 
I  never  saw  Father  Price  after  he  left  Chicago,  nor  Father 
Moysant  after  I  went  to  Mrs.  McGuire's.  Both  are  living,  so 
far  as  I  know,  but  where,  I  do  not  know." 

But  the  records  show,  according  to  Mrs.  Mary  McDonald, 
that  her  husband  repented  of  the  wrongs  he  had  heaped  upon 
her,  and  called  her  to  his  bedside  wlien  he  was  dying,  acknowl- 
edging her  as  his  wife,  and  begging  her  forgiveness.  They  were 
reunited,  and  a  few  days  later  McDonald  died. 
Opposed  by  Documents. 

For  Mrs.  Dora  McDonald,  on  the  other  hand,  an  entirely 
different  case  is  made  out  by  her  attorney.  Colonel  James  Ham- 
ilton Lewis.  He  said  thart  he  had  procured  new  evidence  in 
the  shape  of  affidavits  and  sworn  statements  of  witnesses  in  the 
suit  for  divorce  brought  by  "Mike"  McDonald  against  Mary 
C.  McDonald  in  1889,  and  letters  in  the  hand-writing  of  Mary 
McDonald,  and  others. 

The  divorce  bill,  according  to  Colonel  Lewis,  Avas  filed  in  the 
Superior  Court  of  Cook  County  on  September  11,  1889.  In  the 
complaint,  McDonald  alleged  that  he  married  his  first  wife 
November  20,  1870,  and  lived  with  her  until  May  1,  1889.  He 
alleged  misconduct  in  the  complaint,  naming  Joseph  Moysant, 
or  Father  Moysant,  a  renegade  priest,  and  gave  dates  and 
places  of  alleged  misconduct.  He  also  alleged  that  Mrs.  Mc- 
Donald had  fled  to  France  with  Moysant,  and  that  she  was  not 
a  resident  of  Chicago,  or  the  State  of  Illinois. 
Joint  Letters  in  Evidence. 

Letters  were  offered  in  evidence  which  were  alleged  to  have 
come  from  Mrs.  McDonald  to  women  friends.  Some  of  these 
are  said  to  have  been  signed  Mrs.  J.  Moysant,  and  to  have  been 
partly  in  the  handwriting  of  Mrs.  McDonald  and  partly  in  the 


(i(»,s  LIFE  OF  MICHAEL  C.  McDONALD 

handwriting  of  Moypant.  These  letters  are  said  to  have  shown 
thill  ^Irs.  McDonalrl  liad  ;i  knowledge  of  the  divorr-e  suit  pend- 
ing against  her. 

An  attempt  was  also  made  to  prove  that  Mrs.  McDonald  was 
deeded  certain  property  hy  McDonald  in  connection  with  the 
divorce  proceedings,  and  that  she  negotiated  and  disposed  of  tliat 
property  in  part,  thus  acquiescing  in  the  terms  of  possession  an<l 
establishing  the  legality  of  the  divorce. 

Mrs.  Mary  McDonald,  now  a  white-haired  woman  upward  of 
sixty,  declares  that  she  has  brought  suit  to  establish  her  legal 
status  as  the  widow  of  "Mike"  McDonald  for  the  sake  of  her 
two  sons,  Gu}''  and  Cassius,  for  whom  she  desires  to  clear  her 
name  of  any  stain.  Her  petition  for  an  injunction  restraining 
the  trustees  of  the  estate  from  paying  to  Mrs.  Dora  McDonald 
any  money  as  dower  rights  was  heard  by  Judge  Barnes  on 
Xovcmber  18. 

The  contest  was  long  and  bitter  -between  the  attomeys. 
(*rimination  and  recrimination  flew  thick  and  fast.  In  the 
end,  however.  Judge  Barnes  decided  that  the  divorce  of  ^like 
McDonald  from  Mary  Xoonan  McDonald  was  legal,  that  the 
law  could  not  go  back  of  the  records,  and  that,  therefore,  Mary 
Noonan  McDonald  Mas  not  entitled  to  any  share  of  the  Mc- 
Donald estate. 

But  the  sordid  contest  over  tlie  ill-gotten  money  of  the  gam- 
l)ling  king  was  not  yet  at  end.  Dora  McDonald  failed  to  pay 
her  attorney's  fees,  and  the  estate  was  again  brought  into  the 
courts  on  an  injunction  obtained  by  James  Hamilton  Lewis, 
who  threatens  to  throw  the  estate  into  involuntary  bankruptcy. 

Thus  the  long  battle  over  tainted  gain  goes  on.  Let  those  wlio 
think  gambling  an  easy  way  to  wealth  and  power  read  aright 
the  lesson  of  the  life  of  Mike  McDonald;  one  continual  tissue 
of  law-breaking,  imprisonment,  divorce,  scandal  upon  scandal, 
murder,  adultery,  leaving  a  name  covered  over  and  associate*! 
with  all  vileness,  all  the  mud  and  slime  of  society,  to  go  down 
to  the  grave  with  a  broken  heart.  Is  that  an  alluring  spectacle? 
Is  such  a  life  worth  living?    Who  would  emulate  it? 


HAVE    YOU     READ 


The  Devil 

and 
the  Grafter 


And  how  tlipj-  work  ti)- 
gether  to  Deceive,  Swin- 
dle and  Destroy  Man- 
kind. A  Thrilling  and 
Graphic  Story  of  Truth 
Stranger    than     Fiction. 

How  a  great  army  of 
600,000  criminals  in 
America,  under  the  in- 
fluence, guidance  and 
leadership  of  Satan  wage 
continued  war  with  jus- 
tice, law,  society  and 
religion. 

BY 

Cliiion  R.  Wooldridge 

The  World's  Great 
CRIMINOLOGIST 
AND  DETECTIVE 

After  twenty  years  of 
heroic  warfare  and  scores 
of  hair  breadth  escapes,  in 
which  he  suffered  wounds 
and  bruises  by  the  hund- 
reds, and  baffled  death  so 
often  that  his  criminal  enemies  declare  "he  leads  a  charmed  life."     Mr.  Wooldridge. 
while  stiU  "in  the  harness,"  has  given  this  volume   to   the   public   with   the   beUef 
that  he  is  sending  forth  a  book  with  a  mission  of  good  to  the  world. 

No  man  in  all  our  country  is  so  feared  by  evil  doers  of  all  classes  as  the  author 
of  this  revelation  of  the  ways' and  wiles  of  wicked  men  and  women,  who  graft  and 
swindle,  rob  and  corrupt  their  fellows  in  defiance  of  law  and  justice.  ,  .  ,    ,. 

"The  Incorruptible  Sherlock  Holmes  of  America"  is  the  title  by  which  Mr. 
Wooldridge  is  favorably  known.  Hundreds  of  times  large  and  tempting  bribes 
have  been  offered  him  by  wealthy  criminals;  thousands  of  dollars  at  a  time  might 
have  been  his  for  a  "wink"  at  a  nefarious  practice,  or  for  the  loosing  of  his  hold 
upon  a  rich  criminal's  wrist.  But  like  Cajsar's  wife,  he  stands  "above  suspicion." 
He  is  still  a  poor  man,  but  deeply  and  earnestly  studying  the  science  of  CTiminology. 
laboring  and  lecturing  for  the  cure  of  crime  by  wise  laws  and  scientific  means — 
declaring  himself  to  lie  the  enemy  of  crime,  but  the  friend  of  the  crimmal,  whose 
disease  of  crime  he  believes  can  be  cured,  and  that  it  is  his  mission  to  help  the  world 
suppress  crime  and  find  out  the  waj"-  for  its  elimination.  . 

With  an  aim  so  lofty,  and  a  motive  so  pure,  the  good  people  of  every  religion, 
all  trades,  all  professions  and  all  classes  are  in  hearty  sympathy,  and  the  circulation 
of  this  book  will  not  only  serve  to  warn  the  people  against  the  snares  and  pitfalls 
of  the  Devil  and  the  Grafter  (into  which  thousands  of  new  victims  fall  and  one 
hundred  and  sixtv  millions  of  dollars  of  the  people's  money  are  lost  every  year), 
but  it  will  tend  to  make  Grafting  impossible  and  turn  the  Grafters  into  honest, 
legitimate  channels  and  good  citizenship. 

This  Book  should  be  in  the  Hands  of  Every  Minister,  every  doctor,  every  stu- 
dent, everv  teacher,  farmer,  business  man,  mechanic  and  laborer,  every  wife  and 
widow — statistics  show  that  ninety  widows  out  of  every  hundred  are  swindled  out 
of  what  their  husbands  leave  them.  It  should  be  in  the  reach  of  all,  male  antl 
female,  for  there  is  not  a  post-office  in  all  the  land  where  the  mail,  every  time  it 
comes,  does  not  bring  the  alluring  literature  of  the  Grafter  to  swindle  or  tempt  the 
unwary. 
PRICE  CLOTH,  ILLUSTRATED  SI.OO 


HANDS  UP 

IN  THE  WORLD  OF  CRIME 
OR 

12  YEARS 
A   DETECTIVE 

by  Clifton  R.  Wooldridge 

Chicago's  Famous  Detectiva 

A    BOOK    OF 

Thrilling  descriptions  about  the 
capture  of  Bandits,  Robbers, 
Panel  House  Workers,  Confi- 
dence Men  and  hundreds  of  other 
criminals  of  all  kinds. 

TELLS    IN   GRAPHIC 
MANNER 

How  Criminals  of  all  classes  op- 
erate, illu.strations  showing 
arrests  of  Murderers,  Safe 
Blowers,  Diamond  Thieves,  Pro- 
curesses of  Young  Girls,  etc.,  etc 

THE  contents  of  this  book  is  a  narrative  of  the  authors  twelve  years'  experience 
_  on  the  Chicago  police  force.  His  long  and  successful  experience  with  the  crim- 
inal classes  justly  fitted  liim  for  the  work  of  bringing  before  the  public  in  presentable 
lorra  the  many  and  interesting  features  of  a  detective's  life. 

In  detail  he  tells  the  story  of  his  life,  and  without  coloring  of  any  kind  produces 
an  accurate  account  of  his  twelve  years'  experience,  many  times  under  fire;  his  famous 
efforts  to  apprehend  criminals,  wiio,  by  means  of  revolvers  and  other  conceivable 
methods  tried  to  fight  their  way  to  liberty. 

.  The  book  contains  over  5  00  pages,  is  profusely  illustrated  from  specially  drawn 
pictures  and  photographs  of  desperate  criminals  and  law-breakers,  such  as  murderers 
highway-men,  safe  blowers,  bank  robbers,  diamond  thieves,  burglars,  porch  climbers 
shop  lifters,  bicycle  thieves,  box  car  thieves,  lottery  swindlers,  gamblers,  women 
footpads,  panel-house  thieves,  confidence  men,  picki>ockets.  iirocuresses  of  young 
girls  for  immoral  purposes,  women  gamblers,  levee  characters,  etc. 

This  great  production  is  not  a  ponderous  volume  fihed  with  dry  statistics,  but 
made  up  of  thrilling  accounts  which  depict  the  most  noteworthy  incidents  in  the 
lives  of  criminals  in  large  cities. 

During  Detective  Wooldridge's  service  on  the  force  he  has  made  20,000  arrests, 
secured  12.5  penitentiary  convictions,  recovered  $75,000  worth  of  lost  and  stolen 
property,  which  was  returned  to  its  rightful  owners;  seventy-five  girls  under  age  were 
rescued  by  him  from  houses  of  ill-fame  and  a  life  of  shame  and  returned  to  their 
parents  or  guardians  or  .sent  to  the  Juvenile  School 'or  House  of  the  Good  Shepherd. 

It  is  well  known  in  police  circles  that  Detective  Wooldridge  has  refused  at  many 
different  times,  bribtes  of  from  $.500  to  $4,000;$10,000  was  offered  for  his  discharge 
or  transfer  from  the  levee  district  by  criminals  against  whom  he  had  waged  a  war- 
fare. 

He  has  letters  from  Carter  H.  Harrison,  the  mayor,  three  state's  attornei/s,  eiqht 
chiefs  of  police,  three  assistant  chiefs,  six  i7ispectors,  nine  lieutenants,  sir  police  rustiees 
and  others  too  numerous  to  inention,  which  testimonials  are  printed  in  the  hook  toqether 
u-ith  their  autographs.  The  book  contains  all  Hie  General  Superintendents  of  Police 
of  Chicaco  from  185.5  to  1901. 

Detective  Wooldridge  has  a  wonderful  rcjcord  in  police  annals. 

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